Pokémon GSC
by Kishiko Honya
Summary: This is the Johto saga based on the original Gold/Silver/Crystal versions. The story shifts from Kotone's, Hibiki's and Silver's perspective. These are their journals come to life. So step back and enter the Pokémon world once again.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Pilot Chapter - _The Town Where the Winds of a New Beginning Blow_

As the sun rises in New Bark Town, a young man prepares to head out for his very own Pokémon adventure. With his bag set up and his pokégear on hand, it seems our hero is ready to face any challenge that comes his way. Standing in front of his friend's house, he raises his head and stares at the window. He then sees the sunlight making its way down the mountains. He sighs and drops his bag.

**"KO – TO – NE!"** the boy yells.

Kotone, the name of the boy's close friend and our heroine, is apparently still asleep. She received her trainer's license almost a month before but decided to stay and help her friend before starting her own journey out into Johto. But right now, she's being far from helpful.

"Kotone!" he yells again. "Kotone, wake up!" The door creaks open. "Kotone's mom!"

"My Hibiki. You're here so early."

"Well, Kotone's supposed to help me today. We're going to Cherrygrove's Pokémon Center and get my license."

"I see." She smiles. "Good luck waking up my daughter."

"What? Wait." The door slams shut. "Kotone's mom!" he sighs.

Missing his chance, Hibiki picks up a small rock. He aims for the window and hurls the rock hitting the wodden ledge.

"I missed." He sighs again. "Kotone~! Hey Kotone!"

Inside, a small blue mouse wakes up. He was Kotone's marill, her partner since trainer school. The little one rubs his eyes. After hearing all the noise, he investigates looking through the window. He immediately recognizes his master's friend. He slumps to the floor and scurries to awaken her. It jumps onto Kotone's bed and starts to shake her master. That is until Kotone's eyes begin to roll. Realizing his futile attempt, he puffs his lips and his cheeks swell. Water suddenly gushes out of his mouth quickly awakening his master.

"Huh? What?" clothes wet, she shakes her left arm. Water slowly seeps down her body. She turns her head and promptly spots her marill. "Rima. What are you doing?" Just as she is about to scold her marill, a familiar voice calls for her name.

"HEY!" So it wasn't exactly her name but he'll say it… "C'mon, wake up already." eventually…

Seems our hero has lost his patience. His face brightens up as, lo and behold, the window finally opens.

"Ah. It's you. What are you doing here this early?" she asks.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? You're supposed to help me get my trainer's license today. Or have you forgotten?"

"Um… I'll be right down."

"Yeah right." He grunts. "You totally forgot."

Kotone rushes to her bag. She picks up a piece of paper and a pen from her study table. She arranges her potions and pokéballs, carefully placing them in her bag. She fills the paper with check marks and quickly opens her closet. She hastily changes clothes and runs off once again. Kotone then stops. She returns to her room and grabs and old badge case. After which she promptly goes downstairs. She runs into her mother, Rima jumping onto Kotone's shoulder.

"My, you woke up quite early dear."

"Well, yeah, though it would have been better if you woke me."

"You slept so soundly, I didn't have the heart to wake you."

"You forgot too, didn't you?"

"Now run along dear."

"Moooom."

Marill rubs her cheeks on her face.

"Rima…" she pats his head.

"It seems Rima has taken quite a liking to you in just a month."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Hey… quit changing the subject."

**"KOOOOOOOOOOOOO – TOOOOOOOOOOO – NEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"** a desperate plea from outside is heard.

"You mustn't keep your friend waiting."

"I'll be right out!" She shouts back. "I'm going out for a while mom. See you at dinner."

"Be careful dear." Rima happily hops along her master. "You too Rima." Kotone's mom adds. "Dear me, those two are always going out since they've been together. I guess it was the same then too." Her mother sighs as she continues with her chores.

Kotone closes the door shut and dashes to the streets stopping right in front of Hibiki. Rima, once again, bounces onto her shoulders. Her friend extends his hand and points at Kotone. "You are seriously late!"

"I'm sorry. I overslept a little."

"A little?" He exclaims. "Nevermind. Let's hurry."

"Wait. I have to check my pokégear."

"You can do that later. C'mon. C'mon." his excitement uncontainable, he continues to babble. "Prof. Elm is finally giving me a Pokémon today. We have to hurry."

"Honestly, he's too lenient on you. You don't even have your trainer card yet and you're already getting a starter."

"It's not my fault that my pleas were answered."

"Yes. Yes. You were crying all the way. So, what are we waiting for?"

"Yeah-hes! Finally!" Hibiki grabs Kotone's hand. Just then, her pokégear rings. She pushes off Hibiki and immediately answers. "Hello?" Behind her, Hibiki speculates who the caller is by constantly asking her.

"Oh, Kotone. Professor Elm here."

"What is it professor?" _"Hey Kotone, who's calling?"_

"Have you made your way to Cherrygrove yet?"

"No, we're still in town. Is there something wrong?" _"Hey Kotone, heeeeeelloooooo?"_

"No, I mean is, nothing's wrong. Mr. Pokémon sent me an e-mail. He wanted to show me something but as you know how busy I am in the lab and…"

"Do you want me to pick it up?" _"Pick up? Are you getting a zigzagoon? Or a pachirisu? I think both are great though."_

"If you don't mind, that is."

"Maybe if you give me that chikorita as a reward…" _"Now you're saying chikorita? What are you talking about?"_

"I'll think about that. I'm indebted to you Kotone."

"No problem professor. I'll see you at the lab." She places her gear on her bag's strap and quickly takes hold of Hibiki's ear. "We're going to Mr. Pokémon's house."

**"WHAT?"** he said in complete shock. "But we're supposed to get my license today."

"No problem. After I take you to Cherrygrove, I'll just continue on and you can get your license and go back here. Simple, right?"

"Except I have no Pokémon. What if one jumped me as I go home, huh? What if a crazy rattata bites me in the butt?"

"Then bite it back. Hmmm… well, I guess I owe you for making you wait." She stops for a moment and thinks until… "Let's go and ask for your starter."

"Did I hear those words right?"

Kotone walks by him and turns back. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Sparkles in his eyes, Hibiki replies with a resounding yes. Yet someone overhears their conversation. "Starter Pokémon?" Upon hearing those words, the mysterious red haired boy follows them. With neither of them unaware of their stalker, they happily enjoy the sights of New Bark Town. Located near the base of a mountain, it is almost isolated from all of Johto, which makes it hard for police to respond to any emergency. As they reach the outskirts of town, they come across Prof. Elm's lab. It also houses a ranch where Pokémon of different species meet. These are likely from other trainers before who have entrusted their companions to the professor's care.

"We're here!" Hibiki shouts.

"Indoor voice please."

"But we're outside."

"Hush." She blushes. " Let's go. I already e-mailed the professor that we were coming."

"Right behind you."

As they enter the lab, our mysterious boy continues to observe Prof. Elm's lab. Inside, Hibiki absolutely touches every single thing he deems interesting… "Ooooh. That thing is shiny." … or shiny. Kotone, meanwhile, finds a place to sit down and waits for the professor. The doors slide open and out come the Pokémon Professor Elm. His lab coat filled with research papers and his left hand grasping a clipboard. He extends his hand to Hibiki.

"It's nice to finally meet you Hibiki."

"Likewise."

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" He starts up a machine that opens a glass container with three pokéballs inside. "Now, each of these has one pokémon. I have a chikorita, the leaf pokémon, a cyndaquil, the fire mouse pokémon, and a totodile, the big jaw pokémon. You can choose whichever you like."

Hibiki closes his eyes and starts to pick.

"What are you doing?" Kotone shouts. "Why are you closing your eyes? You should be picking your partner."

"I know." He replies with his eyes still closed. "And I pick this one!" he grabs a pokéball and throws it into the air. "Come on out partner!" In front of him the fire mouse, cyndaquil appears. "Yeah! I have my first Pokémon, Cyndaquil."

"Are you insane? You just picked a starter with your eyes closed."

"Now now Ms. Kotone. He can pick however he wants to. It's his choice afterall."

"But…"

"Oh. And about your reward. Let's talk about it after you finish your errand."

"Yes."

"I can't believe it. I'm a trainer." He happily embraces his new found friend.

"Wait a second Hibiki." Hibiki turns to Kotone. "I want to challenge you to a battle."

"What?" he said with the look of shock and awe in his face.

"Excellent idea. I can sure use the data." Prof. Elm snaps his fingers. Two aides appear out of nowhere. "There's a field out back. You two can use that." The two aides guide Kotone and Hibiki to the field with the professor leading the way. "This is certainly unexpected. I haven't witnessed a battle in a long time. If feels so refreshing." Hibiki stands to the east side of the field whilst Kotone takes the west. "And to think that Kotone would be the willing challenger… she must have been upset seeing her friend act that way in picking his starter. This might be more of Kotone wanting to teach her friend a lesson. Or will it be the other way around?"

"I don't know what's gotten into you. But I like it. My very first battle…" He said with anticipation.

"Let's go Rima~" marill hops off his parter's shoulder and into the field.

"C'mon Cyndaquil" cyndaquil scurries out.

Meanwhile, inside the lab, and unexpected and uninvited guest has made his move.

"Gotcha!"

* * *

My first pokémon fanfic. Hope you like it. Read and review. Thanks all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Second Chapter - _The Town Where the Winds of a New Beginning Blow 2_

Kotone raises her hand and Rima promptly responds. He braces for the order his master is about to give. "Water Gun"

As soon as her words are heard by Rima's big ears, his body becomes bloated from the pressure of the water he gathered. He sprays it directly at Cyndaquil. The water rushes towards it making the ground wet. But before the water could reach Cyndaquil, it was gone. It used a quick attack. Failing to hit the target, Rima stands still and quietly waits. Kotone, who has her fair share of battles, put trust in her marill as she gives another command.

"Rima, just wait for him to attack."

"That's right Cyndaquil~! Keep evading water gun with your quick attack!" On the other side of the field is her opponent, a close friend, Hibiki. Recently obtaining his pokémon before getting his license due to special circumstances, he was challenged by Kotone. Having no idea why she wanted to battle, he wholeheartedly agrees and puts his starter to the test.

"This is bad for Kotone. I guess that cyndaquil really did have a hasty nature." Prof Elm comments.

"Hasty nature?" one of the aides asks.

"Well, just as each of us humans have different personalities, so do pokémon." He continues with his lecture. "Though I'm no expert in this subject, a pokémon's personality or nature also has an effect on its battle performance. Like that cyndaquil I gave to Hibiki. He has a hasty nature which in turn increases its speed but reduces its defense. Personalities work two ways; it benefits and acts as a weakness to the pokémon. If Kotone figures this out, Hibiki will lose this battle." Both assistants lean towards the professor. "Wait, weren't you listening? Anyway… how can you fall asleep with such a short lecture?"

On the battlefield, Rima's water gun keeps on missing Cyndaquil.

"Give it up Kotone. Cyndaquil will just evade everyone of it."

"Acting cocky for your first battle, aren't you? We'll show you! Rima! Use your Roll-out!"

Rima curls into a ball and starts to move at an unbelievable speed. He rolls towards Cyndaquil.

"That's easy. Cyndaquil, quick attack now!"

But before cyndaquil launches its counter attack, he is struck by the rolling marill. Due to the elemental nature of the attack, cyndaquil receives high damage.

"Cyndaquil, are you okay?" he nods his head. "Alright! Cyndaquil, it's time to attack. Use ember."

Bolts of fire ricochet out of from his back heading for a collision with Rima. But he's still coming in with his Roll-out attack. Ember didn't do any damage.

"You should have known that would happen. Hello? Rima's a water-type, fire deals almost no damage to him."

"Um. I forgot." He nonchalantly replies.

"Don't forget stuff like that. Seriously, if you can't beat me, how'd you expect to defeat anyone else?" Rima hits Cyndaquil with another Roll-out. "And another hint, Roll-out's power increases each time it hits. This battle is over." Rima quickly approaches Cyndaquil about to hit him with another Roll-out.

"Cyndaquil, get down!"

The fire mouse does as he's told as marill barely misses. Rima hovering over Cyndaquil.

"Now jump!"

With Rima over his back, Cyndaquil knocks the marill unto the air. Rima, unable to maintain his curl is left defenseless.

"Cyndaquil, Quick Attack!" With that, Cyndaquil kicks the ground and, with tremendous speed, hits Rima dealing critical damage.

"No way. Just one attack?"

THUD! Rima falls to the ground.

"Looks like the winner is obvious." Hibiki says with a smirk.

"Rima… are you okay?" Rima lets out a weak cry. "You poor thing. Here, eat up some berries. It'll make you feel better."

"Ha! I knew you could do it. Cyndaquil, you were awesome!" He holds up his cyndaquil into the air celebrating their very first victory together as a team. Cyndaquil squeaks happily for the flood of compliments he gets.

"I can't believe I lost." Kotone whispers. "But you did your best Rima, so good job."

"Well that was certainly unexpected." Prof. Elm pats cyndaquil's head. "You two did an exceptional job." He turns towards Kotone and warmly smiles. "Don't be disappointed for the lost my dear…" _"Actually professor, I'm quite happy with the result and…" _"… It's a part of growing with your pokémon. I'm sure with a lot of practice and…" _"… If you actually listen to me, what I'm saying is that it's perfectly fine that I lost…"_ "… persevere, I'm sure you will become a strong trainer."

"Um… thanks" she then whispers. _"He didn't listen to a word I said."_

"Let's go into the lab. I'll be serving some snacks for you two."

"That very generous of you professor but we have to get going." Kotone replies.

"Oh. But I have cookies."

"Are you tempting me with sweets?"

"Not at all."

"I'd like some cookies." Hibiki says with drool coming from his mouth.

"Huh? What? That's very good. Now Kotone…"

"Really professor. I have to finish my errand for you."

"That's very unfortunate." _"I said I want one."_ As they are about to enter the lab, one of the aides come running out. "What's wrong?" The professor asks.

"Prof. Elm, someone broke in. They took one of the starters."

"What did you say?" _"Well I thought I was being clear but I supposed that…"_ Prof. Elm dashes into the lab. _"Oh… I guess he did hear me." _Our two heroes follow. As soon as they enter the lab, they are stunned. Paper scattered everywhere, some computer parts taken apart, and most important of all, one of the starters inside the glass container is missing. Prof. Elm quickly turns on the computer. "Who could have done this?"

"Professor, don't you have any kind of security in your lab?" she asks.

"No, I thought I didn't need it."_ "What? You mean you kept dangerously powerful pokémon and yet you don't have any guards. I could have just taken Cyndaquil then."_ "Ah… the cameras I installed."

"Cameras?" Kotone and Hibiki say in chorus."

"Yes. I deployed hidden cameras around the lab in specific places." _"Sounds questionable when you say it."_

"Oh no."

"What's wrong professor?"

"Whoever stole the started, they were good. All footage for today was deleted including the battle outside." _"Wow. You recorded our battle. Awesome."_ "And I had Kotone visit today too." _"You totally sound like a pervert professor."_

"Kotone…" just as Prof. Elm was about to ask… "No."

"But I haven't…"

"I said no."

"But…"

"No."

"Well then. I won't give you chikorita."

"Fine."

Prof. Elm is blue in shock because of Kotone's blatant rejection.

"I could do it."

"Hibiki?"

"I could track down the thief."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Leave it up to me and Cyndaquil." He looks down on his cyndaquil. "Right buddy?" Cyndaquil's flames lit up.

"Thank you Hibiki. I'm relieved that someone is willing to help me."

"That means Hibiki and I will be splitting up. I'll be going to Mr. Pokémon's house near Cherrygrove and pick up Prof. Elm's package."

"And I'll be investigating the pokémon theft and capture the perpetrators."

With determination in their eyes, Prof. Elm finally calms down approaches one of the machines. "Kids, come here a moment."

"I said I don't want cookies." Kotone insists.

"Oh. Cookies?"

"No. It's not that. I'll teach you how to use this machine."

"What's that professor?" she asks.

"This is a Pokémon Healing Machine. If you ever get into trouble, use this to heal your partners."

"Wow, that's pretty useful."

"Yes." One of the aides move towards them and hands over two sets of pokéballs to the professor. "Take these too. These are pokéballs and are used in catching pokémon. Use them well." Both Kotone and Hibiki take five pieces each. "Thank you two for your help." He turns towards Kotone. "Kotone, once you get the package, deliver it to me as fast as you can so you can assist Hibiki in the search for the thief."

"Yes, of course professor."

"Hibiki." He turns to the boy. "If the thief is indeed a group, don't take them all. Wait for Kotone to join you. Don't be a hero. It'll only end badly."

"Yeah. You bet I'll teach them a lesson."

"That's not what I'm trying to say."

"C'mon Kotone. Let's head out."

"Sure." Hibiki grabs his friends hand.

The doors slide open and the two kids leave. One of the aides comes to the professor.

"I've already contacted the police sir."

"Good."

"Was it wise to let those kids go after the thieves?"

"Yes. And it's not thieves, its thief."

"What do you mean sir?"

"That red haired boy, where have I seen him? No matter. I know those kids will eventually cross paths. With that, they will grow and become splendid pokémon trainers." The professor whispers. "You" he points to the aide. "Delete all the security footage."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Yes sir." The aide hastily sits in front of the computer.

On the screen of the computer the professor used to access the security footage, there appears the mysterious red haired boy who stole one of the starters. He grins as he exits the lab. The recording is then deleted by the aide.

Meanwhile, near the base of the mountain, the red haired boy judges the spoils of his break in. He get a pokédex from his pocket and aims it at the pokémon he released from the ball.

**_Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon…_**

"Totodile, huh?"

On their way to Cherrygrove, Kotone and Hibiki are now about to enter a world like no other. With adventures on their way, both of them look at the sky of possibilities as they, or at least one of them, is now an official trainer. And the other, still waiting to get his license to participate in the Johto Gym Challenge, his eyes filled with optimism, looks into what the future holds for him and his Cyndaquil.

* * *

Second release. Hope you guys like it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Third Chapter - _The City of Fragrant Flowers_

Once again, our heroes continue their journey to Cherrygrove City where Hibiki's license awaits him. But as our heroes reach the end of the road, they encounter an old man.

"Hey there kids, are you perhaps pokémon trainers?"

"Actually, we were just…" Hibiki cuts her short and proudly boasts. "You bet old man" he raises his hand and points at his face. "What you see here is your future Pokémon League Champ."

"That's some spirit I see in you, boy" the old man eyes spark and out of the blue asks Hibiki. "Do you mind if we have a battle right now?"

"Well, you see, he only has one…" again Hibiki interrupts Kotone. "Yeah! It's a one on one match then." Cyndaquil leaps in front and happily nods as if accepting the challenge itself.

"That's fine with me." He laughs heartily. The man gets a pokéball out of his belt. "There's a field just near the city. Lots of youngsters use it as a battlefield. I'm sure they won't mind us using it."

"That's fine with me too, old man." Kotone pulls Hibiki's sleeve.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry. We have plenty of time."

"I guess. But just to be sure. I never agreed to this."

"Sure, fine, whatever"

The three of them find their way to an open field. Some kids started to gather as they get nearer. The earnestly call out the old man."

_"Hey gramps, found some newbies, huh?"_

_"Yeah. Gramps is coming."_

_"Look, they have a cyndaquil. They must be from New Bark."_

_"So what? Gramps is still gonna win."_

"Wow old man, you sure are popular?"

"Am I now?" he laughs again.

"I really don't think this is a good idea."

"What are you talking about? You can't hone your battle skills if you don't go up against challengers."

"It's not that. I just have a bad feeling. That's all." Hibiki just brushes off Kotone's constant worrying. The old man stops and then looks at our heroes with his sharp eyes.

"Just to make it more interesting, I see the girl has her own pokémon. Why don't we have ourselves a double battle?"

"Sure…" Kotone is interrupted once again. _**"Hibiki!"**_ "It's gonna be fine. Trust me." Kotone groans.

"That's the spirit." The old man encourages them. "Now, let's begin."

"You're asking for it old man. Let's go Cyndaquil." Cyndaquil jumps into action.

"Okay Rima! Let's get this over with!" the blue mouse jumps down from Kotone's head and lands beside Cyndaquil.

"A well-balanced team if I do say so myself. Here goes. Sentret! Hoppip! Come out." The old man's pokémon eagerly await their master's orders.

"Cyndaquil, start if off with an Ember attack!" Flames from his back begin to go ablaze as sparks from the fire start flying onto Hoppip.

"Rima, support Cyndaquil with Bubble." Marill starts to take in air and puffs out bubbles effectively surrounding them.

"Quite a strategy you have there, missy. Sentret use Assist! Hoppip, hit Cyndaquil with a Confusion attack." Sentret's tail glows and a luminous wall of light appear. It's Reflect.

"Too bad old man, Reflect only reduces the damage of physical attacks. It won't work on Ember."

"Ah, but you forget, my boy" Cyndaquil stops attacking. "Sentret is only a distraction."

"What happened?"

"It's Hoppip's Confusion" she yells out. "But Hoppip can't learn that." With the element of surprise the old man begins to boast.

"Not if you're persistent little missy" the old man then commands his Sentret. "Use Assist one more time!" This time, Sentret's eyes glow blue.

"Hibiki, it's another Confusion attack from Assist. We have to do something."

"I know" he then yells at his cyndaquil. "Let's go buddy, you can break out of confusion. Use Ember again!" Cyndaquil's flames fire up and sparks come flying out hitting Sentret breaking it up from using Confusion. "Direct hit buddy!"

"It's our turn now, since Hoppip is half flying type… Rima! Roll-out!" Marill curls up and begins to rampage across the field towards Hoppip.

"My, you children are good." More kids begin to gather at the spectacle, both cheering for our heroes and the old man. "Sentret! Fury Swipes!" His claws glow and he pounces at our hero's cyndaquil.

"Not so fast! Cyndaquil use Smokescreen!" he opens his mouth and thick black smoke is released effectively hiding both Cyndaquil and Rima.

"Rima! Bubble! Now!" Inside the smoke, Rima releases bubbles hitting Sentret and knocking it out.

"Now, let's finish this Cyndaquil. Use Ember on Hoppip." He nods and sparks of fire fly onto Hoppip. But it avoids the attack by bouncing up.

"Never underestimate my lil' Hoppip. Use Confusion to push back Cyndaquil." Hoppip's antennae glows together with its eyes immediately stopping Cyndaquil from attacking.

"Help him out Rima! Roll-out." Rima rolls up but its unable to reach Hoppip who started to ride the winds."Our attacks can't reach it."

"I have to admit. You kids are good. But you're still inexperienced. Hoppip, use Confusion again!" Cyndaquil is pushed back into the ground.

"Oh no" Kotone yells out. "Hibiki, I don't think Cyndaquil can take any more."

But as Kotone starts to panic, Hibiki comes up with his own strategy. "Kotone, order Rima to use Roll-out on Cyndaquil."

"But – "

"Trust me."

"Fine. Rima! Use Roll-out. This time, on Cyndaquil."

The kids around them are at a ruckus. _"Are they giving up?" "Is he nuts?"_

Just before Rima hits, Hibiki commands "Cyndaquil, get down." He just evades the attack with Rima rolling overhead. "Now jump." Cyndaquil jumps up, knocking itself out but also enabling Rima to reach and hit Hoppip. Hoppip lands on the ground unconscious. Rima also lands and quickly checks up on Cyndaquil.

The crowd is put in an uproar of cheers for the reckless but incredibly brilliant strategy.

_"Wow, you guys actually beat the old man."_

_"We haven't seen anything like that match. You guys were awesome."_

_"Yeah! Especially what you did to knock out Hoppip. You were amazing."_

"Thanks you guys." Hibiki proudly grins as he won his second match.

"It was reckless if you ask me" Kotone said while applying a potion on marill. "Turn around Rima." Marill turns and she sprays on his injuries. "You better go ahead to the Pokémon Center. Unlike Rima, Cyndaquil needs immediate attention. He fainted, after all."

Hibiki finally realizes that his partner is in danger and he runs towards him. "Cyndaquil, are you alright buddy?" Cyndaquil lets out a soft squeak. "Darn it."

"Let's go my boy." The old man calls out. "It's kind of my fault that you pushed your cyndaquil to its limit. The center is just a few minutes from here."

"Thank you."

"You go ahead Hibiki. I'll move on to Mr. Pokémon's house." Rima jumps onto Kotone's head. "We'll meet up in Prof. Elm's lab."

"But I thought we were gonna go together?"

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself" she starts to walk off and adds. "Besides I don't just accept random battle invitations."

"Fine" Hibiki then shouts at a distance. "What is it with you and your mood swings?"

Kotone shouts back. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

As Kotone disappears into the distance, the old man pats Hibiki's back. "Having a little squabble with your girlfriend I see."

"She is not. But, it wouldn't hurt to know why she's mad."

"You can figure that out later. You have your pokémon to worry about."

"That's right. Cyndaquil!" he turns to the old man. "Where's the center old man?"

"Come with me. I'll take you there."

The old man, followed by the kids and Hibiki, lead them to Cherrygrove. Hibiki notices his cyndaquil developing a mild fever. At the sight of the Pokémon Center, he dashes off and immediately seeks for help only to find that the center was full of people.

"Excuse me…" he bumps into a bunch of trainers. "Excuse me…" he tries to reach the counter. "Excuse me…" he suddenly spots Nurse Joy and yells out. "Excuse me, nurse."

Nurse Joy takes notice and asks, "What's the matter?"

"It's my cyndaquil nurse" he says with a worried face. "He has a slight fever. Please help."

"Right here then." She takes his hand and he immediately blushes.

While they were walking, Hibiki asks, "Why are there so many people?"

"Oh that. They say that they battled a strong trainer who knocked them out with his totodile."

"What? All of them?"

"Yes. No trainer has yet come in with a totodile. So I guess they're still training outside the city challenging random trainers."

"Do you know what the trainer looked like?"

"No, actually. No one got a good look at the trainer's face."

"Is that right?"

Nurse Joy stops and gets Cyndaquil from Hibiki. "Please wait here, there are other pokémon still being healed so this may take some time."

"Thank you nurse…"

"My name is Nurse Joy" she smiles. Hibiki reacts by blushing and looking down. "Please wait over there."

"Okay."

But Hibiki can't sit still and starts to interrogate the other trainers about the mysterious totodile user. He knows the thief stole one of the starters. He thought that it couldn't be a coincidence. A few hours passed and Nurse Joy calls on Hibiki to the counter.

"Your cyndaquil is just fine."

"That's great Nurse Joy. Thanks"

"You're welcome"

He suddenly remembers. "I almost forgot. Where do I get my trainer license?"

"Oh, have you just begun your training?"

"Yes."

"Well, do you have your pokédex with you?"

"What's that?"

"Oh, so you've yet to receive a pokédex. Then, just tell me your name."

"Um… it's Hibiki."

"Alright Hibiki." She types in her computer and a card slides out. "Use this until you get a pokédex. It's a trainer card. It contains your information though it can only be updated by constantly going to the Pokémon Center and logging it in."

"I see. Thank you very much."

"You're very welcome."

With his license on hand, he runs off to meet up with his friend at Prof. Elm's lab. But what's this, our mysterious red-haired boy has appeared in front of Hibiki.

"Are you a strong trainer?"

Hibiki immediately spots totodile and yells. "You're the thief!"

"Am I?"

* * *

Third quick release.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Fourth Chapter - _The City of Fragrant Flowers 2_

Just outside the Pokémon Center of Cherrygrove City, A fateful encounter between two trainers with distinct styles of battling and raising pokémon takes place, the calm but proud red-haired passer-by boy and the resourceful but reckless hero of our story. Out of anger for stealing one of Prof. Elm's pokémon, Hibiki yells out.

**"You rotten thief! The kid with the totodile, so it was you."**

"I don't know what you're talking about" the boy denies. "It seems to me that you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Don't try to hide it. You're the thief who stole Prof. Elm's pokémon. You have a totodile, am I right?"

"What is it to you if I do?" he says with confidence. "I could have caught this totodile. You can't accuse me of anything. I'm wasting my time here with you. I have to look for strong pokémon to catch and strong trainers to battle."

He slowly walks away. Frustrated, Hibiki calls him out again.

"Then battle me!"

"Say that again."

"I said battle me" Hibiki repeats. "You're looking for strong trainers to battle, right?"

"I guess you're right. But we can't battle here in the middle of the streets now, can we?"

"Then let's go to the park. We can battle all we want there."

"Right then" the boy said. "Shall we go then? I don't have all day."

"You're on!"

Before all that went down… on route to the residence of Mr. Pokémon, Kotone travels her way through the thick forest. Her marill grows stronger for every wild encounter. After an afternoon of hiking, she sets her eyes on her goal. With growing anticipation for the parcel to be transported, she dashes off. Marill hopping on for the ride, they finally made it. She quickly climbs the hill with her eyes shimmering. Head held high and a sense of accomplishment, she knocks on the door. But of all people to answer the door, it was Professor Oak. A renowned pokémon researcher, he is practically the face of pokémon studies in general, an inspiration to all would-be scientists at that time. Shocked at meeting one of her idols face-to-face, she mindlessly gazes at him for a few awkward seconds. Until the professor speaks…

"May I help you?"

Waking up from her daze, she cheerfully answers, "Yes! I'm looking for Mr. Pokémon."

"Ah, you must be one of the kids that Elm sent" he looks behind her and asks. "Where's the other one?"

"Um… we actually separated."

"Oh my. Did you have a fight with him?"

"No. It's not that. His pokémon got injured in a battle so…"

"Ah. You two are preparing to become trainers?"

"Hold your questions Samuel. Why don't you let the girl in for a moment?"

"I guess I got a bit carried away again."

"Yes. Now… um…"

A tall gentleman opens the door for her. His very presence is overwhelming making our heroine a bit nervous. His piercing eyes seem to penetrate the very person's soul.

_"It's Kotone, sir."_ She mumbles.

"Right, right. Kotone… "His deep voice trembles through the room. "… as you may already know, Prof. Elm and I share the same interests in research, particularly in pokémon eggs. Prof. Elm is an outstanding researcher and is known for his studies in evolution. I, myself, contributed much to the world with my own research, though I have to admit that it's just a hobby. I also need his input on the matter at hand. Now this…" he walks over to a machine and pushes a button. A glass case slowly rises in the middle containing what seems to be a pokémon egg. "This particular specimen was found in Kanto. Prof. Oak personally gave me some notes on this one and I would like you to deliver it to Prof. Elm so that I will know what he thinks of it. Being a busy man, I can't do meticulous errands like that."

"Don't worry Kotone. I'll make this trip worth it" Prof. Oak hands over a pokédex from his pocket. "I believe you know what it is."

"Of course I do" she says excitedly. "It's a pokédex, an encyclopedia of all recorded pokémon. Can I really have this?"

"Yes. Your marill seems happy for you too" he sighs and adds, "I was supposed to give your friend his own. Well, I guess you have another errand to run then."

"Hurry along child, Prof. Elm is waiting." Mr. Pokémon interrupted.

She cheerfully nods and heads off to Cherrygrove. After climbing down the hill, she looks back and sees the two gentlemen waving at her, she waves back and gleefully shouts, "Thank you very much!"

Once again on the road, she immediately makes use of the pokédex and reads the data on the different pokémon she sees. Her eyes widen at the possibilities opened to her by her new acquisition. As she was busy utilizing her pokédex, she suddenly realizes the time. Prepared for the current situation, she decides to camp out and calls up her mom telling her that she will be home the next day. Her mom reluctantly agrees as there was nothing she could do. Kotone prepares a fire while Rima looks for berries to eat. She leans back on a tree and gazes at the setting sun. She eventually dozes off. After a few hours, she wakes up hungry. It seems the berries didn't fill her up. Rima also awakens from his short snooze and follows his master. As they wander about, a colony of zubats swarmed around them. They strike without warning and began a feeding frenzy. She screams for help. A passerby hears her call and rushes to her aid. Meanwhile, Rima tries to defeat the zubats by himself by tackling them. But it was all about numbers as he finally gets knocked out. When all hope seems lost, the passerby arrives.

"Go, Totodile!"

A small blue reptile appears before her. With her bit of strength, she tries to stand up but the boy utters. "Stay down. It's dangerous. They might attack you if they sense you move." Her legs give way and she falls unto the ground. The zubats begin to gang up to Totodile when the boy calls out an attack.

"Totodile, use Rage!"

The colony simultaneously uses Leech Life on the big jaw pokémon. He turns red and unleashes a fury unto the zubats taking them out one by one. But one of the zubats remains up in the air.

"So, you're the leader huh?" he smirks. "Totodile, finish him off. Use your Rage!"

Totodile jumps into the air and strikes it with his claw. The boy throws a pokéball and in a matter of seconds, he catches the zubat. Kotone regains her strength and goes to help her partner.

"Rima! Rima!" marill reaches for his owner's hand and faints. "RIMA!"

"Your marill will be fine" the red haired boy assured her. "He took some damage from the attacks protecting you. Even though he's weak, he has the aspiration to grow stronger."

Kotone is puzzled. She doesn't know if he's insulting her pokémon or praising it. Done with the rescue, the boy throws the pokéball at her. She catches it and realizes that it was one of the zubat that attacked her.

"Keep it." The mysterious red-haired boy grins. "I already caught a more powerful one than that." As he walks away, he looks back at Kotone. "It's my way of saying, you're welcome." And he disappears into the dark.

She forgot to say thanks to her savior but it didn't seem to matter. She decides to stay up and watch over her marill as she waits for the sun to rise. She looks at her weakened Rima and from that point swears to become stronger with her pokémon. Just as the humming winds blows, she falls asleep with her hand over marill's head.

The sun slowly rises over the mountains and she is on her way back to Cherrygrove. Traveling down the road, she uses her new zubat to scout ahead to avoid dangerous swarms. She doesn't want to take any chances this time. Her zubat quickly returns and leads the way. And in no time, they arrive at Cherrygrove. She heads straight to the Pokémon Center to heal her marill. As it turns out, Hibiki is still in town. After checking in Rima, she finds her way towards her friend. He seems very upset. Kotone takes her time talking to her.

"I got an egg from Mr. Pokémon yesterday."

"Great" his usual enthusiasm appears to have vanished.

"Yeah… well…" Kotone thinks of another topic. "I also met Prof. Oak."

"Great."

"He gave me a pokédex."

"Great."

With his listless attitude, Kotone decides to make fun of him. "I met a fluffy pink ursaring in a hot sauna under your nose."

"Great."

"You're no fun. I guess I won't tell you how I got rescued by a trainer with a totodile. It's a very interesting story too."

Hibiki snaps and grabs her by the shoulders. His expression instantly changes.

**"What did he look like? Where did you meet him? Tell me everything."** He tightens his grasps on Kotone. She flinches.

"It hurts, Hibiki."

**"Shut up. Just tell me!"**

"Why?"

**"That guy was the thief!"**

"Ouch." She shouts. People around them start to stare. "Okay. I'll tell. I'll tell. Just get your hands off me."

He realizes what he's done and gently let's her go. Obviously upset, she releases her anger.

"What's wrong with you? That really hurts."

"I'm sorry. It's just…" he calms down a little and starts talk. "Yesterday, someone, that jerk beat me. His totodile, he treated him like a tool… a weapon to battle against other trainers. I can't forgive him."

Kotone suddenly knocks him on the head.

**"You idiot! You're upset over losing?"**

"You don't understand. He's different… he's…"

"I don't really understand what happened. Do you even know his name?"

"No, he said he only introduces himself to strong trainers. It's like he spat in my face."

"What did he look like?"

"He has red hair, wore a dark blazer and sharp silver eyes."

She realizes that they met the same trainer and exclaims. "That's the same guy who saved me last night."

"What? He saved you?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he? He saw I was in trouble. Rima couldn't fight the swarm himself."

"Don't go side with that guy. I'm telling you he's evil."

Kotone slaps her.

**"FINE."** He stands up and starts to walk away. "And I'll make you see what he really is."

Kotone sighs. "He's been blinded with his first lost. Such a sore loser" She stands up. "Not that it involves me or anything." She looks at the medical counter and remembers the promise she made to Rima. She will become a better and stronger trainer. "I won't let anything like that happen again."

Once again, the two friends meet at a crossroad. One who seeks strength to prove himself to a rival and the other who wants to protect her partners as they protect her, and once again they walk different paths. And yet another stranger is walking in front of them, a powerful trainer, the mysterious thief, both want to catch up… now their destinies intertwine.

* * *

Fourth release up. Read and review please. Thanks to all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Fifth Chapter - _The Town Where the Winds of a New Beginning Blow 3_

Three trainers intertwined; Kotone heads back home to New Bark Town to deliver the egg to Prof. Elm; Hibiki decides to train near the base of the mountain path to Blackthorn City; and the third, the mysterious red-haired thief who was last seen heading north.

Cyndaquil is thrown into a tree. The bark breaks from the impact. Cyndaquil lies unconscious on the ground. Hibiki runs towards his fallen partner.

"Cyndaquil!" he carries him in his arms. "Are you alright buddy?"

"Is that all you got?" the silver-eyed red-haired boy asks.

"Yes" swallowing his pride, Hibiki admits defeat. "I lose this time."

"And you have the nerve to accuse me?" he grins. "Though you are right, I did steal this totodile. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"What did you say?"

"If you want it back, you have to do better than this pathetic display." As the trainer walks away, Hibiki shouts at him.

"WAIT!" he then proceeds to ask the boy. "Tell me your name."

The boy's grin suddenly fades and he turns back. "I never introduce myself to weak trainers" he said.

These words filled much of Hibiki's ambition to grow stronger and defeat his newfound rival. He decides that the best way to do that is to remove any of his pokémon's weakness. He continues to push Cyndaquil, battling geodudes near the base of the mountains. But after a few hours, it finally sinks in. No matter what he does, his partner's elemental weakness cannot be removed. He lets his cyndaquil rests as he scouts the mountain path for a way up. He discovers ledges but is too high for him to climb over. He knows that powerful pokémon roost in the mountains and plans on catching them for the sole purpose of defeating the thief.

As he walks over to his camp, he notices a familiar creature raiding his bag. It was a sentret. It is looting his bag for food. Hibiki comes running and swaying his arms frantically.

"Hey you! Give me back my sandwich!"

The sentret climbs up a tree branch away from Hibiki's reach. It takes a bite of the sandwich and taunts him with it. Cyndaquil wakes up and comes to his master's aid.

"Cyndaquil! Good. You're awake." He points at the munching sentret. "Let's teach this thieving pokémon a lesson. Use you tackle and shake him down."

The fire mouse hits the tree with tremendous force but was unable to move the sentret. The pokémon replies by teasing Hibiki and continues to eat away. Frustration kicks in and our hot-tempered hero throws a rock at it. Sentret is hit in the head. Annoyed, it drops the sandwich and retaliates. It jumps down and starts to attack Hibiki but Cyndaquil quickly intervenes with tackle. Annoyed at cyndaquil, it stops and observes it's would-be opponent. Hibiki starts to give cyndaquil commands.

"Let's get him" cyndaquil nods. "Burn him up with Ember!" Small fire balls from the sparks of cyndaquil's fire fly towards sentret but it easily dodges them. Expecting a counterattack, cyndaquil instinctively increases the flames from his back. Sentret stands still as if mocking them.

"Cyndaquil" Hibiki yells. "Can't you see he's looking down on us? C'mon! Hit it with your strongest Ember attack!"

His partner's flame grows firing out several fire balls. Sentret tries to dodge but the sheer number of the fire balls render his evasion futile. As the smoke clears, the little guy is still standing. His energy drained from blocking the attacks. It waits for its opponent's move.

"He won't attack, huh? This is gonna be cake for you buddy. Use tackle to finish him off."

As cyndaquil charges at it, sentret's tail trips cyndaquil and throws him off balance onto the ground. It was a Reversal attack. Cyndaquil gets up heavily damaged from Sentret's Reversal. Hibiki hurries towards his cyndaquil.

"Are you okay?" his partner quietly nods his head. "Good. Change of plans buddy, we're gonna catch that sentret. I don't know what attack he did to you but it's strong. I'm not letting it go, understand?" He nods his head again and faces his opponent.

"Okay Cyndaquil, Tackle it again!"

Cyndaquil pounces on sentret as it prepares for another Reversal. Seeing this chance, Hibiki calls out to his partner. "Cyndaquil drop to the ground and use Tackle!" Upon hearing his trainer's command, he leans forward avoiding Reversal and charges unto sentret. It is effectively knocked down. Hibiki throws a pokéball and for a few agonizing seconds waits.

We join Kotone as she travels down Route 29. Once again, she sets off her zubat to check the clearings up ahead for pokémon swarms. After a few minutes, it flies back prompting Kotone to move forward. She became increasingly careful of her journey but nonetheless battles wild pokémon she deems a threat to her partners.

"Zuu!" she calls out. "Did you find anything?" Her zubat shakes its head and they walk on. That is until they meet a peculiar person on the road, a girl who seems to be waiting for someone. She has wavy hair and sports a pink bow on her head. Kotone curiously approaches the girl.

"I do believe that this is the first time we've met?" she said with a cheerful smile.

"Yes. I guess…" Kotone replies. "My name is Kotone."

"Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Tuscany of Tuesday" she bows and glances at Kotone's pokémon. "Are you perhaps a pokémon trainer?" she asks.

"Yes." Kotone answers. "This is my marill, Rima, and my zubat, Zuu." Rima politely nods while Zuu rests on Kotone's shoulders. "We're headed back home after an errand."

"I guess you won't be able to use it just yet but by way of introduction, please accept this gift" She removes her ribbon. "A Pink Bow, wouldn't you agree that it is most adorable?"

"You want me to have it?"

"Of course, silly." She happily hands it over. Kotone accepts the gift.

"Um… thanks."

"It strengthens Normal-type moves. I am certain it will be of use."

"But I don't have any Normal-type pokémon."

A few awkward seconds pass and the girl replies. "I am certain it will be of use someday." _"She ignored what I said."_

She waves goodbye to her weird new friend and continues on her way to New Bark Town.

"She was a weird one, right Zuu?" Her zubat makes a gauche face and flies on ahead. "Not so fast Zuu."

Kotone and Rima runs after zubat. They realize that they have finally arrived at their destination. Zuu is nowhere to be found but instead they find the lab surrounded by police officers. They see Prof. Elm talking to one of the officers. He notices Kotone from a distance and calls for her. She runs towards them with the officer keeping an eye on her. Rima hides behind Kotone seemingly scared of the officer.

"Kotone, this is Officer Jenny. She's here to help us catch the thief."

She suddenly remembers her confrontation with Hibiki at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center and asks. "Professor, what exactly was the pokémon stolen from your lab?'

"Why do you ask?"

"There have been rumors."

"What kind of rumors?"

"Does it have anything to do with this case?" Officer Jenny interrupts.

Sensing the tension in the air, Prof. Elm discloses the stolen pokémon. "It was a totodile."

Kotone tries to hide her shock and follows up with another question to Officer Jenny.

"Do you have any leads on him?"

The officer replies. "Well, there have been sightings of a lone totodile trainer defeating a wide array of opponents in Cherrygrove City. We've yet to get a sketch of the perpetrator but they say that it was a red-haired male. Do you know this person?"

"No. I was here with the professor during the theft."

"Yes. You shouldn't suspect this girl. She's an outstanding trainer. She has nothing to do with this crime."

"I understand professor. We'll be back tomorrow for further investigation. Good day."

As the professor sees the officers out, Kotone walks by the glass container that houses the last starter, Chikorita.

"I'm gonna get one for use" she tells herself.

Elm walks in and notices Kotone looking at Chikorita's pokéball. He puts his hand over her head and asks. "Do you want her?"

"Professor!" She shouts. "You gave me a scare."

"I'm sorry about that. So, would you like me to give her to you?"

"You mean chikorita?"

"Of course. It seems you want her so bad."

"Yes, I do want one but… no. I want to catch one in the wild myself."

"Impressive, I leave you out to do an errand and your attitude seems to have completely turned around."

"Ah. I almost forgot." She gets the egg from her bag. "Here. Mr. Pokémon wanted you to have this examined."

"My, this is an interesting egg. I've never seen these markings before." Just as she was about to hand over the egg, the professor notices a pokédex sticking out of Kotone's bag. "Is that a pokédex?"

"Yes, Prof. Oak…"

"You met Prof. Samuel Oak?"

"Yes, well, he gave…"

"This is unbelievable."

"What?"

"Prof. Oak never just gives out his latest pokédex."

"Actually he does as a gift for…"

"You're so lucky to have been in his presence. What I would've give."

"Excuse me professor."

"If I have known that he'd be there…"

**"PROFESSOR!"**

"Yes?"

"Are you done?"

"Why yes I am." Prof. Elm composes himself. "Anyway, you were nonetheless chosen by the great Prof. Oak. I want you to take the Johto Gym Challenge."

"Is that all you wanted to say?"

"Um… yes."

"I was gonna do it even if you didn't say so."

"You would have?"

"Yes."

"This is awkward."

"Yes it is."

"I have to go home now professor. I have to see my mom before setting out."

"Very good. You do that then."

"Good bye."

"Oh wait. Before you leave… I want you to have something... **Aide!**" One of the aides comes out with a tray of five pokéballs. "You'll need these on your journey."

"Thanks. See you again."

As the automatic doors close behind her, she looks up and sees Zuu. Her zubat gently lands on her head. Upon a closer inspection, Kotone finds Zuu holding onto a Moon Stone.

"Where did you get that?" Zuu opens his mouth dropping the stone onto his master's hand. "I guess I have to thank you." She looks down at Rima. "Shall we head home then?" They run off home with Rima holding onto Kotone's left leg and Zuu flying after them.

Meanwhile, in Violet City…

"Are you the Gym Leader?"

"Yes. I'm Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader. And what do want?"

"I want… a gym battle."

* * *

Chapter five is out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Sixth Chapter - _The City of Nostalgic Scents_

"This is an official gym battle, the challenger, Kamon, against the gym leader, Falkner. Each trainer will use two pokémon. The match will end when both pokémon are unable to battle. In addition, only the challenger will be allowed to substitute."

"So, I'm guessing you've been through a lot of gym battles to challenge me just like that."

"Not really" Kamon grins. "This is actually my first gym battle."

"That's hard to believe. You seem to be full of confidence. You don't even look a bit intimidated."

"Why would I…?" Kamon is interrupted by a set of machinery which raises the battlefield. "I see. So this is the challenge." He finds himself high above the ground. "A battlefield on the sky…" he just smiles. "…not bad. This doesn't scare me. Let's go Totodile!" He throws a pokéball into the air releasing the petite big jaw pokémon. He seems eager to fight.

"Let's make this quick." Totodile doesn't answer instead he anticipates the gym leader's pokémon.

"You are very reckless. In a gym battle, the challenger usually wails for the gym leader to release a pokémon. This will be a fatal mistake. Fly high Pidgeotto!" A fierce looking bird is released from the pokéball and tries to intimidate its much smaller opponent.

"We'll see. Totodile! Rage attack!"

Totodile's body becomes surrounded with steam and charges towards Pidgeotto but easily evades. It slams its wings on totodile who is thrown near the edge. Totodile notices this and quickly moves in for another attack.

Falkner yells out his order. "Pidgeotto, fly over head and use Gust!"

Pidgeotto circles around Totodile at high speed. A gust of wind forms slowly lifting his opponent.

"Totodile. Water Gun!"

Water starts gushing out of totodile's large mouth. He tries to hit pidgeotto but constantly misses.

"Trying to escape my trap? I'm afraid not. He's just too fast for you. And besides, pidgeotto's gust is powerful enough to absorb your water based attacks. Anything you do now will be futile."

True enough, the water is absorbed by the gust and dissipates into the air. Kamon's heavy stare reaches Totodile, a silent command that he learned from his master. A demoralizing and harsh mantra...

"_What are you doing?"_

"_Can't you see he's winning?"_

"_If that's your best, you are of no use to me."_

"_Limits? You should already know that you have none."_

"_Are you strong? Really? Then prove it!"_

"_**I don't have time to train weak pokémon."**_

All of a sudden, Totodile's body begins to glow a bluish color. The large stream of water becomes a jet pump, easily dispersing gust.

"I see that you have to resort to Torrent to win. It doesn't matter. All that matters now is beating this gym. Totodile, finish him."

The big jaw pokémon positions himself on all fours. His spines begin to illuminate. His tail raised and claws nailed to the ground.

"Water Gun!"

A narrow stream of water blasts off from totodile. Pidgeotto tries to evade it but comes short and gets pummeled to the ground falling off the ring. Falkner is shocked. He has never seen such a fast and powerful Water Gun. But he has his fair share of battles and still retains his confident stance.

"Falkner's Pidgeotto has fallen out of the ring. The count begins… 1… 2… 3… 4…

"Looks like you're all washed up." 5… 6… 7…

"When did I hear that one before?" 8… 9…

From out of nowhere, Pidgeotto swoops up and shakes off the water. It glares fiercely at totodile and lets out a screeching cry.

"And I believe that this is only the first round. I am very much enjoying this match, Kamon."

"Seems that you're better than I thought, gym leader. Not that it matters."

"Is that a compliment?"

"No" he then turns his attention to his totodile. "That was pathetic, Totodile. Make sure to end this with the next hit." He lets out a growl and faces pidgeotto once more.

"Your totodile may be powerful but it's not fast" Falkner raises his hand and clenches it into a fist. "Pidgeotto, surround and conquer!" It proceeds to fly around totodile.

"You underestimate me, gym leader" Kamon points at pidgeotto. "Aqua Jet!"

"**WHAT DID HE SAY?"**

Totodile shoots himself into the air enclosed in a spiraling body of water. He hits Pidgeotto with a Torrent-enhanced Aqua Jet and knocks it out completely.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle. The winner is Totodile." The referee announces.

"I didn't expect that. Well done."

"It seems you are down to your last pokémon already."

"Yes" he draws a pokéball from his sash. "But this match is far from over. Noctowl! Go!"

"It seems you have something planned. All right, I'll bite. It's time we put to use my new pokémon. Return Totodile." A red flash of light enfolds the big jaw pokémon and is quickly withdrawn from battle. Kamon reaches for another pokéball and a zubat comes out. "Zubat, let's show him the true power of a flying-type. I'll finish this with my first move, gym leader."

"We'll see about that. Noctowl, use Hypnosis!"

Noctowl's eyes begin to glow red and turns towards zubat. But the fast moving critter has already flown under it rendering its hypnosis useless.

"That zubat… how did…?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'll finish this with my first move. Zubat! Brave Bird!"

Engulfed in purple flames, Zubat tucks in his wings and tackles Noctowl who is now spiraling down unto the battlefield.

"**Noctowl!"**

A cloud of dust blasts from where Noctowl falls. The referee approaches and proclaims the winner.

"Noctowl is unable to battle! The winner of the match is challenger Kamon and his Zubat."

As the winner is announced, the gears of the stadium begin to move effectively lowering the battlefield. Falkner walks towards Kamon and extends his hand. "Your pokémon has shown great cunning and strength in our battle. For that and defeating me in battle, I give you this…" On his hand is a badge shaped like a pair of wings. "… the Zephyr Badge."

Kamon nonchalantly takes the badge. "So this is it, huh?" He puts it inside a case. "Let's go Zubat." His zubat immediately obeys and flies towards him.

"Wait a minute Kamon. I have to tell you another thing before you go."

He stops and turns back. "What?" he said with a deadpan voice.

"Your pokémon, they show promise with their immense strength. They seem to show trust in you but you don't seem to trust them."

"You're wrong" he blatantly states. "I do trust them. I trust them to win."

"But you have to understand that pokémon are not merely for sport or battles. They are your companions"

"No. You must understand. They are just my tools for glory. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't have time to talk to losers."

The gym doors slide open as Kamon is confronted by the master from Sprout Tower, Elder Lee.

"So I believe that Falkner has lost too."

"Yes." He continues walking out but as he passes by the elder, he whispers. "He's just as weak as you say." Kamon disappears into the distance. The elder slowly walks toward Falkner.

"Elder Lee, what are you doing here?"

"That young man you just fought. He came into Sprout Tower as well. He is a very gifted young man. But I'm afraid that he's too embittered to see the joy of battling."

"Yes. I see your point. But I can't deny that he's strong. And his pokémon have very powerful attacks as well."

"That will be his downfall in the long run. A pokémon battle with no heart… I never faced an opponent like him before. But I know he'll soon realize how foolish he is. He'll meet someone with a warm heart and who treats his pokémon with respect and love. And with that battle, he'll surely change."

"I agree. It would be a waste if he won't realize his fault."

"Did you see something Zuu?" Zubat enthusiastically flies around her and leads the way. "Wait up Zuu."

Kotone follows her zubat. She has received her mother's permission to go on her journey and is now a stone's throw away from Violet City. "Wait up Zuu!" That is, if she can catch up with her scout. A few minutes earlier, Kotone sent out Zuu to check out the areas ahead. He saw the Dark Cave where most of its companions lurk during the day time. He quickly returned to Kotone who is now chasing him. He leads her to the entrance of Dark Cave.

"What is this place?"

She's about to enter the cave when… **"Stop!"** a familiar voice is heard. "Are you seriously gonna go in there?" It was Hibiki. He then reaches for Kotone's hand. She blushes. He starts to drag her to town. "C'mon. The town's this way. That place is dangerous. It's filled with zubats. And it's dark… very dark…" She quickly pulls out her hand. She remembered what happened between them in Cherrygrove City. Her face turns red as she mutters uncontrollably.

"What are you doing?"

"I…"

"Come on. Violet City is this way. We can talk later."

"No… I…"

Before Hibiki could grab Kotone's hand, she slaps him.

"What was that for?" he yells out while rubbing his hand over his cheek.

"Um… I… Well…" She turns around and starts heading back into the cave. "I'm still mad at you so…" she continues to blush. "Stay away from me!" She runs away. Zuu follows and quickly catches up to his master..

"What the…? Give me a break." Hibiki starts running after her.

In a distance, a certain red-haired silver-eyed trainer has been observing their shenanigans. With his zubat to his right nobly hovering, he sighs. "Idiots." As he is about to leave, he turns around. "Why am I doing this?"

Kotone stops in front of the cave entrance. With Hibiki on her tail, she asks zubat for a favor. "Zuu, take me inside. You came from this place, right? Find me a place to hide!" Zuu nods and she quickly follows.

Hibiki stops in front of the cave. He knows he can't explore it without using the move Flash. Despite this, even if he had hurt her, he chases her inside. Not knowing the dangers of Dark Cave.

* * *

Chapter Six quick release. Read and Review. Thank you. Note: I changed the rating to include some stuff that I don't know if it will qualify for K+. So rate T it is for this one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Seventh Chapter - _The City of Nostalgic Scents 2_

A quiet morning in Violet City…

**"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"**

…well it was.

Kamon leaps into action jumping down from the cliff. Zubat, flying overhead, panics as his master slides down the rock face. As he reaches the mountain base, he takes a quick glimpse of the area around Dark Cave. He spots a sloth of ursarings and their teddiursas. He panics and runs through the thick forestry with Zubat guiding him overhead. As he draws near the cave, he cautiously approaches as ursarings tend to be aggressive in protecting their young. He calls in his zubat to his side.

He whispers to his pokémon. "Do you remember the girl we met?" Zubat turns his head, puzzled. "You know, the one we saved from the swarm." It just gave a blank stare.

"**Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"**

"The one who just screamed." He nods his head. "Good. Look for her." Zubat flies off pass by the ursarings. Kamon now waits for his pokémon to return and make his own move. For now, he observes the gathering of ursarings.

"Why are you running away from me?"

"Because you're chasing me, why are you chasing me?"

"'Coz you're running. **KO-TO-NE!**"

"Get away from me!" Kotone speeds up her pace.

"Woah, did she just…" Hibiki stops as his friend disappears into the cavern. He closes his hand into a fist and starts to run again. **"Kotone! Wait up!" **His voice echoes.

She slips into a dark crack on the wall unnoticed. Hibiki runs pass her. Kotone's heart was pounding like crazy. She catches her breath and her body slides down to the cave floor. She grasps her hand. She knows she's being unreasonable. She didn't know why she ran or why she was avoiding Hibiki. She puts her hands on her chest and feels her erratic heartbeat. She slowly realizes why she ran. She didn't know how to face him after their argument at Cherrygrove. She gets up and tries to find her way out of the cave. Kamon's zubat hovers above Kotone and starts to make his way back to his master.

Meanwhile in the deep reaches of Dark Cave, Hibiki wanders off unknowingly trekking a path through the mountains of the Johto region. He encounters several wild pokémon avoiding the temptation to catch them worried about Kotone.

Outside, Kamon waits for his zubat. He continues his observation of the ursarings. Watching the intricate social behaviors and show off their tremendous strength, he wants to catch one. But the odds are against him, the battle experience of the wild ursarings were too overwhelming even for his own pokémon. He sets his eyes to the cubs, the teddiursas. Some of them are using powerful moves such as Cross Chop and Crunch. But his eyes set on the teddiursa with an unusual full moon marking on its forehead. It knows the move Close Combat, a burst of repeating hits on the opposing pokémon. He has to catch it. His luck runs out as the teddiursa enters the cave with the others right behind. He realizes the situation and hurriedly follows them.

As Kotone struggles inside the cave, she wonders how she managed the first time around. She suddenly falls down. Quick to her feet, she takes a good look at what she bumped into. It was a teddiursa, a rather irritated teddiursa. It faces her in an angry stare. Scared, she takes out her pokéball and calls out Rima. The teddiursa is undaunted by Rima and smirks. It jumps up and raises its fist. It fades and suddenly closes the distance and releases several punches and scratches. It is the Close Combat attack. Kotone panics but Rima stays calm. Protecting his master is his only priority. Without any commands, Rima starts to fight.

He starts off by gathering a large amount of water into his cheeks. He grows large enough to intimidate the teddiursa. He releases the blast of water onto his opponent effectively knocking it to the ground. She remembers the promise to her pokémon that she would protect them. The guilt sets in and she slowly gathers the strength to stand up.

"Let's go, Rima!" The little marill takes a glimpse of his master and faces his opponent waiting for a command. "Rollout attack! Go!"

He curls into a ball and spins unto the teddiursa who is barely standing. Upon hitting it, Kotone grabs something from her bag. Still a bit panicky, Kotone throws a pokéball effectively catching it. She lets out a sigh of relief and turns to Rima. Kotone embraces and caresses him.

"Thank you."

Hibiki runs back after hearing the crashing water. But just as many wild pokémon are startled and start attacking randomly, this effectively slows him down. Worried about the safety of Kotone, he swifly finishes each battle. Near the entrance, Kamon's zubat flies pass the sloth of ursarings and lands on Kamon's head.

"Zubat, did you find her?" It nods his head and points his wings towards the darker caverns. "How did she… never mind… let's go Zubat." Kamon crawls unto the ground and heads towards where Kotone is. But just as he was about to pass them, Kotone appears. And she is petrified with the sight of many powerful, high-leveled ursaring. Losing his chance, Kamon grabs Kotone's hand and make a run for it. The ursarings are surprised but see no reason to pursuit. They continue their journey into the cave. Kamon looks back and they start to slow down. They emerge from the darkness into the morning sun. Kamon faces Kotone.

"What is wrong with you? Why did you run into that cave? Dangerous and powerful pokémon lurk inside. Do you want to die?"

"I just…"

"I mean… are you hurt?" Kamon changes his voice into a softer tone.

"No." Kotone's cheeks flushes. "Thank you but I…"

"Why do I even bother?" He points toward the hill. "Look. Go over that hill and you'll reach the city. I'm going to explore the cave."

"Um, but…"

"Don't bother following me, okay? You'll just be in the way." He walks away.

"Um…" Kotone shouts out. **"What's your name?"**

"My name…" he stops and looks back at her. "…is Kamon."

"Kamon?"

He nods his head and continues to the cave. Kotone turns back and makes her way to Violet City. She calls out Zuu and they climb up the hill. As she marvels at the majesty of the city, she searches on her pokégear for the center. Zuu lands on her shoulder. She spots the center and comes in. With her face and clothes covered with dirt, the nurse immediately takes her to the showers. Kotone obliges and gives her pokéballs to the nurse for healing. Afterwards, she prepares her bags and heads to the main desk.

"Hello Nurse Joy. Are my pokémon doing better?"

"Yes they are Kotone. It seems your teddiursa was newly caught."

"Wow. How did you know?"

"She actually bit one of the chanseys."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Your zubat and marill are very well behaved though."

"Zuu and Rima? Yeah. They're very dear friends to me."

"That's good. And before I forget…" She takes a crystal blue case and presents it to Kotone. "Your mom sent for this, a badge case."

"Thank you." She grabs and puts it in her bag.

"Are you going to challenge Falkner?"

"Who's Falkner?"

"He's the gym leader around here."

"Well, I guess I could give it a shot."

"Well, his gym is right next to the PokéMart. But he also trains in Sprout Tower."

"Sprout Tower?"

"Actually, the Sprout Tower was the original gym for Violet City. But after being defeated by Falkner's father, who also wanted to become a recognized Johto League Gym, it lost its status as a gym and was given to the victor. Eventually, Falkner inherited the position. The monks of Sprout Tower hold no grudge against Falkner's family. In fact, he can be seen training with the elder."

"I see. That's quite a history lesson."

"Really? I always wanted to become a historian but managing the center takes a lot of my time."

"That's too bad."

"It's okay. It's already in my blood to help pokémon. I'm proud being a pokémon nurse."

"That's the spirit. I better get going and challenge the gym."

"Good Luck Kotone."

"Thanks." She looks at the ceiling. _"I think I forgot something."_

Just near the entrance to Dark Cave, Hibiki and his partners take a break from battling wild pokémon. They lie on the ground looking up into the clouds.

"I guess Kotone's not here anymore. What do you say we head to the city?"

Cyndaquil squeaks in agreement while Sentret catches its breath.

"Great." He sighs and stands up. He shakes off some of the dirt. "I really need a bath now. I should've caught a water pokémon." He mumbles his complains and grabs his bag. "Let's go guys." Cyndaquil and Sentret quickly follow.

He makes his way to the center where Nurse Joy quickly spots the filthy trainer.

"Oh my, yet another trainer covered in dirt. What have you been doing?"

"Um… yeah… about that…" Hibiki then realizes that the nurse looks exactly like the one in Cherrygrove. "Wait a minute. We're you the nurse back in Cherrygrove?"

"That would be my sister."

"Seriously? Are you guys twins?"

"Hardly, she's my younger sister."

"Wow. You guys look identical."

"Yes. Yes. Will you please head to the shower?"

"Um… right… wait… you said something about another trainer?"

"Yes. There was another trainer who came here who was just as dirty. Her name is Kotone."

"She was here. I missed her."

"Do you know her?"

"Well, yeah. I think I'm going to skip the shower and look for her."

"Not on my shift. Mister, you will take a bath right now. I can't have filthy trainers running around the city."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, get in there."

Hibiki gives his belongings to the nurse and headed for the showers. He takes a quick shower and heads to the nurse.

"Um. Nurse…"

"It's Nurse Joy." _"Wow. They even have the same name."_

"Do you know where my friend…?"

"She said that she was challenging the gym."

"Woah. Really? Then I better be on my way."

"Ahem." Hibiki stops. "You forgot these." Nurse Joy takes out his bag and a tray with two pokéballs.

"Ah. Sorry."

Before Hibiki could go out and follow Kotone, a familiar figure enters the center. It was one of Prof. Elm's aides. He looks around and spots Hibiki.

"Hey, kid." Hibiki notices as the man approaches. "Do you remember me?"

"Um... actually..." _"Yeah. Yeah. The story of my life. No matter what important thing I give or do."_

"The professor was looking for Kotone to take care of this." He shows him a pokémon egg. "Have you seen her?"

"No. I'm looking for her too."

"Well then, will you do me a favor and give this to her?"

"Why do I have to? It's your job."

"I guess you don't want this either." He shows off a pokédex.

"What is that?"

"It's a dex. It holds information on every existing pokémon there is in Johto, like an encyclopedia. It can also store the information of the trainer who owns it. Kotone already has one and Prof. Oak sent this to Elm to give to you. But if you won't help me..."

"Wait a minute that's..."

"Come on. I know you want it."

"Jerk." He stares at the dex and extends his hand to the aide. "Fine, I'll give it to her."

The aide grins. "Thanks kid." He hands over the egg and the dex. "See you around."

With the pokédex in hand and the egg to give to Kotone, Hibiki sets out to find and apologize to his friend.

* * *

Sorry about being late. 7th chapter here. Read and Review please.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Eighth Chapter -_ Magnificent Flying Pokémon Tamer_

A sign hangs in front of the gym door: "Closed"

"The gym's closed? Unbelievable! How can a League Gym be closed?" Hibiki cries out.

He takes a peek inside through the glass doors. The lights were out and no signs of anyone inside. Suddenly, the lights are activated and a kid with messy hair walks towards the door. He looks as if he just woke up. He opens it and bows in front of Hibiki.

"I'm sorry. But because of a gym battle the other day, the leader's pokémon are all in the center. Please come back tomorrow if you want to battle."

Embarrassed by the boy's politeness, he scratches his head and answers. "That's fine I guess but I was also hoping of finding my friend here."

"I don't know about your friend but if you want to find the leader, he's training around Sprout Tower with his other weaker pokémon."

"Thanks. Guess I'll be heading there too."

"Thank you for your patience." _"Wow, so polite."_

With that behind him, Hibiki heads for the Sprout Tower. A large pagoda which measures a hundred feet tall is held together by a giant flexible pillar. On windy day, the tower sways resembling the movement of a bellsprout. As he walks into the tower, a young man escorted by the monks enters. When their eyes meet, a spark ignites within him and he finally yells out to him.

"Hey. You're a trainer, aren't you?"

"In a way, I am. Do you have any business with me?" he asks.

"No, but I'm itching for a battle."

"Such a blunt reply, sadly I'm far too busy."

"That's fine. I didn't think you'd be a little torchic about it."

With that, Hibiki sealed his fate. The guy snaps and arrogantly answers.

"Torchic? Are you looking down on flying pokémon?"

"Technically, it's not a flying type." He said with a smirk.

"Are you doing this on purpose, boy?"

"Maybe I am. If you want, we can settle this now." He takes his pokéball and lunges it forward. "So, do you want to battle?"

The monks around them can feel the anxiety around the two trainers. Their passionate eyes burn with each passing moment, that is until the temple elder approaches. Accompanying him is our heroine, Kotone who is less than surprised seeing her friend challenging random trainers.

"Kotone! I knew you were here."

"Do you know this child, little miss?"

"Unfortunately" she replies.

"I've been looking everywhere for you. The nurse told me you were headed for the gym for a battle but… well… you know… it was closed. They told me the leader was here. So I thought I'd check it out and that I might find you and then this guy came up and I felt a powerful urge to battle and then here you are."

"You talk too much."

"I'm sorry." He says in an inaudible voice.

The elder laughs heartily. "My. You children are full of energy." Hibiki simply smiles. "And I see that you have achieved what you two came here for."

"What do you mean Elder Li?"

"You both want to battle with the gym leader, right?" Both nod their heads.

"I'm the gym leader." The guy answers. "I am Falkner the Violet City Pokémon Gym Leader."

"Seriously? No wonder I felt that strange vibe. I knew my guts were onto something."

"Wow, so he's a gym leader. He doesn't look that much older than us."

"Yeah but we're gonna beat him!" Hibiki boasts.

"Unfortunately, my pokémon are still in the pokémon center."

"That's okay!" Hibiki tells him while patting Falkner's back. "We can wait."

"But if you want, you can battle with me right now. I still have one left."

"You mean it? That would be awesome!"

"Now children, behave yourselves." The elder then turns to Falkner. "I believe that you are here to train."

"Yes. And what better way to train than battling this upstart young trainer?" Falkner says with a grin.

"A stubborn one, you're just like your father. How he defeated me and my disciples, I'll never know."

"I heard about that from Nurse Joy."

"Well yes. I was the head trainer, the gym leader, at the time. That man challenged the entire gym. He was a persistent one. After a grueling battle, my final pokémon cave in out of exhaustion. I've never seen such determination. Until now, that is." He looks up into the swaying pillar and faces Hibiki. "Let's go upstairs, shall we?"

One of the monks act as a guide, he carries a long staff and wears a brown sash. They soon find themselves at a dead end. The monk raises his staff and knocks on the ceiling. A secret compartment is revealed and a ladder comes down. As they climb the ladder, they are awestruck at what they find atop the Sprout Tower, a pokémon arena. Hibiki wanders around as Falkner assists Kotone in climbing up.

"Wow, this is awesome."

"Young man, you'd like to challenge the gym leader. Am I correct?"

"Of course!"

"Then" he faces Falkner who in turn glances back at him. "You two will face Falkner…" he looks at Hibiki. "…and myself in a battle."

"No way, seriously?"

"But elder…" Kotone exclaimed.

"Is that alright with you Falkner?"

"Whatever decision you make, I will respect it."

"It's settled then." _"Why does no one listen to me anymore?"_

"Are you ready, Kotone?"

"Come on Hibiki. We're facing practically two gym leaders at one. I'm not sure…"

"But this is our chance. I thought you came here to challenge Falkner."

"I didn't expect that I'll battle the elder too."

With a serious gaze and commanding but warm tone he says, "Trust me."

Kotone flushes furiously. She takes out her pokéball. She grasps it tightly and replies, "Fine."

"Splendid. Let me explain the rules. Each one of us will use one pokémon. Once both pokémon from the opposing team faints, that team is declared the winner. There will be no substitutions."

"Got it, old man!"

"Good! Good! I like that spirit of yours."

"Are you ready Kotone?"

"Yeah!"

"Let us begin. Noctowl!" The elder's voice echoed throughout the tower. Two red lights flash which reveals the noctowl hidden in the darkness, it flies down and lands beside the elder.

"A noctowl huh? That's really cool. Alright Cyndaquil! Let's go!"

The fire mouse squeaks happily as it scurries around the floor.

"I guess I'll be using this one." Falkner retrieves a pokéball from his sleeve and throws it. "Come out Pidgey!"

Kotone tosses hers and Zuu comes out flying. Zuu lingers around his master. "Do your best Zuu!"

"When did you catch a zubat?"

"It's a long story."

One of the monks steps forward, "This is a double battle between the team of the Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner, and the Sprout Tower Elder, Li, and the challengers Hibiki and Kotone. Whoever knocks out both opposing pokémon is proclaimed the winner." For a few agonizing seconds, Kotone's heart raises. "Let the match begin!"

"Cyndaquil conserve your energy and use Smokescreen!" he opens his mouth and black smoke begins to come out. The smoke surrounds Noctowl and Pidgey. "Now attack with…"

"Whirlwind!" Noctowl flaps his wings and the smoke begins to clear.

"Use Gust!" Pidgey flies unto Cyndaquil and misses. But the wind behind it follows forming Gust. It lifts up Cyndaquil into the air. "Follow up with tackle!" pidgey sharply turns and collides with cyndaquil in midair. As he falls, Zuu uses Supersonic on Pidgey. Confused, it drops to the floor. In the confusion, Noctowl scratches zubat. Hibiki takes advantage of the fallen bird.

"Ember! Now!"

Sparks from Cyndaquil's back start to fly damaging pidgey, Hibiki follows up with another attack.

"Let's go! Tackle!"

He runs up to pidgey and slams onto its side. Pidgey tries to fight him off and tries to fly but cyndaquil is relentless on the attack.

Meanwhile, Zuu and Noctowl fly above. Zuu manages to avoid Noctowl's scratch attack.

"Zuu! Use Supersonic on Noctowl."

Zubat turns on its back and uses Supersonic. It barrel rolls to maintain flight and zooms around the room leaving a confused Noctowl.

"These two kids are impressive. But they've yet prove their worth as a team."

"I agree. Pidgey! Use Sand-Attack!"

Pidgey sweeps its wing on the floor gathering the dust blinding the fire mouse. It uses that instant to fly into the air. Noctowl, who is confused, flies around the room.

"That's right Noctowl. Just shake that confusion off."

Kotone notices this. "Hibiki, let's take down Noctowl while he's confused."

He nods his head and gives Cyndaquil another command. "Let's go, tackle Noctowl!"

"Help him Zuu!" Kotone yells. Zubat grabs Cyndaquil and carries him up. Zuu gathers speed and hurls Cyndaquil into Noctowl giving it a boosted Tackle attack. Suddenly, Cyndaquil's flame ignites engulfing his entire body.

"What's that?"

"It's Flame Wheel! Cyndaquil learned Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil hits with Flame Wheel. Zuu catches his partner and the slowly descend targeting pidgey.

"Whirlwind!" A powerful blast of air hits Zuu prompting him to drop Cyndaquil. Kotone takes a look at the culprit. It was Noctowl! Just as it was falling, with its remaining strength, it used Whirlwind to mess with Zuu's balance. Both Noctowl and Cyndaquil are knocked out.

"That was quite a site. I've never seen a stronger zubat."

"No. I've seen a stronger one but his is interesting. That girl, she's quite observant."  
"I let my guard down. I apologize, Falkner."

"That's fine Elder Li. Their combination was strong. But now, it's just the two of us. How will the girl handle it?

Now, only two pokémon remain; Falkner's Pidgey and Kotone's zubat.

"Cyndaquil's down and Falkner's pokémon still looks tough after that bout. What should I do?"

"Come on Kotone! You can do it!"

Hibiki gives her a smile. The pressure of the match fades away and remembers what she always knew.

"Let's go Zuu! Let's face this head on! Go!"

Zuu dashes towards Pidgey.

"You want to do this head to head, huh? Fine. Pidgey! Tackle!"

Both pokémon fly to each other at amazing speeds. Each hit drains them little by little until… Zuu slams Pidgey unto the floor maneuvering just right to avoid crashing. Pidgey faints. The monk raises his right hand.

"The winners are Kotone and Hibiki!"

"You did it!" He hugs her. Kotone shoves him off.

"Easy. It's not like I've forgiven you or something."

Hibiki bows his head. "I'm sorry."

"Just kidding." Kotone hugs him. He blushes.

"Those two are amazing. Don't you think so?"

"I agree." Falkner nonchalantly watches the two celebrating their victory.

That afternoon, they gather at the entrance of Sprout Tower.

"I guess we'll have a rematch tomorrow."

"There's no need for that Hibiki." The two trainers look at him curiously. "Defeating me and the Elder of Sprout Tower has earned you these." He presents them with a wing-shaped badge. "This is the Zephyr Badge. With this, you have earned your first badge."

"Woah! Cool! Thanks." He snatches his from Falkner's hand.

"Thank you." She picks it up and places it inside her badge case.

"But I'd still like that rematch thought."

"Don't worry. You are always welcome to challenge me."

"Count on it!" Kotone smiles.

They bid their farewell to Falkner and head to the center to rest.

"That was an awesome match."

"Yeah." Kotone answers. "But we still have a long way to go. We have to make Prof. Elm proud."

"Ah! Speaking of him, one of his aides wanted to give this to you." Hibiki opens his bag and shows her the pokémon egg.

"This is the egg I delivered."

"Seriously?"

The egg suddenly shakes violently.

"What's happening?"

"No way" she says with a smile. "It's hatching."

The egg shells scatter. Out comes a small pokémon, it was Togepi.

"Aw. It's cute."

"Really?" Hibiki picks it up as Togepi opens her eyes. It smiles and cries happily at the sight of the young lad. "What? Huh?"

"Looks like you're stuck with it."

"Wait? What? Are you serious?"

"That pokémon's too cute for you." Kotone teases.

"**No way!"**

**

* * *

**And that concludes the first gym. 8th release. Read and review please. Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Ninth Chapter -_ Living Happily With Pokémon_

The next morning, they make their way to the outskirts of Violet City. They reach a fork in the road. Kotone consults her pokégear for directions.

"It says here that this route leads to Union Cave which inevitably goes to Azalea Town. Ah, there's a league gym located at the heart of the town."

"How about the other one?" Hibiki asks.

"Let me see" Kotone searches the map for references. "It looks like it will lead us to Ecruteak City. There's also a gym there."

"Where should we go?"

"According to the map, Ecruteak City will just take us about a half day walking but with this pace, I'd say a solid two hours is all we need to..."

"You said there's a cave before Azalea Town. I bet you there are a lot of pokémon to catch."

"I guess that's true. But I want to go sightseeing in Ecruteak." Just as Kotone is about to turn to Hibiki, she notices that he has disappeared and is now running towards the direction of Union Cave.

"Hibiki!"

"Come on Kotone! We have to catch more pokémon! I'll leave you if you're that slow."

"Jeez."

Now the two set off to Azalea Town.

Meanwhile, in the Azalea Gym, a battle is taking place.

"Zubat! Brave Bird!"

Zubat folds his wings and drops from the air. A shimmering blue light envelops him as he falls.

"Fend it off with False Swipe!"

Scyther thrusts his arms upward. Zubat opens up his wings to slow its descent riding the wind it created. False swipe misses its mark. Zubat turns around and glides toward Scyther.

"Block it!"

Scyther crosses its arms but zubat hits with Brave Bird. Scyther is hurled back and tossed into the ground. It has lost consciousness.

"Scyther is unable to battle. The winner of the match is Zubat."

On one side of the field is Kamon, who just earned his first badge not long ago. A disheartened trainer is shocked but nonetheless accepts defeat. He crosses the field and presents Kamon with a badge.

"You won. Congra-"

Kamon swipes the badge and walks away.

"He sure is in a hurry." The boy smiles as he watches Kamon leave the gym. He takes out his pokégear and looks at the time. "I guess I can continue my research near the ruins." The boy packs up his large camping bags and heads towards Union Cave.

Union Cave, it is tunnel connecting Azalea Town, the Ruins of Alph and the neighboring Violet City. An abundance of rock and ground pokémon nests and thrives inside the said cave. According to the latest researches, a large chunk of the cave was created from water rushing from the see through an unseen underwater cave. Many wild water pokémon not native to the cave may be seen inside the deep caverns. There is also an unknown reason why some of the exits of the tunnel lead to the famed Ruins of Alph. For any archeologist, Union Cave is a treasure-trove of ancient history. But for some, like our heroes, they are here for pokémon catching.

"So this is Union Cave."

"C'mon Kotone. I'm sure there are lots of pokémon inside. Let's go catch some."

"Wait up."

Inside, Kotone wonders at the magnificence of the cavern walls and the small ponds which adorn the cave floors. Hibiki goes up front and looks for pokémon.

"Do you actually know what you're looking for?"

"Yeah" he shows a big grin as he continues. "A kid from Violet City told me that he caught an onix here."

"A kid…?"

"Yes. He told me he caught an onix in these caves."

"And you didn't stop to think?"

"…think what?" He draws out his pokédex to Kotone's surprise. But she shrugs it off as to thinking that the professor might have given it to him along with the egg.

"Never mind." Togepi suddenly pops out of her pokéball and wanders off. Kotone spots it and yells at Hibiki. "Hey! Didn't you notice your togepi running off?"

Kotone's voice echoes through the tunnel promptly awakening a sleeping giant behind them, an onix. Hibiki is almost paralyzed by fear but tries to warn Kotone by wildly pointing at it.

"What are you doing?" She asks. Panicking, he turns her around and her face immediately turns white. With a nonchalant voice she says "Okay. Run."

Kotone and Hibiki start to run. Hibiki grabs his togepi and runs off with Kotone. Togepi, seemingly unaware of the dire situation they're in, happily sings in her master's arms. They race through the tunnel with the thirty foot monster behind them. The onix keeps hitting the cave ceilings preventing it from catching up.

"Ah. I know. Rima is a water-type. I'm sure he can…" The onix's roar resonates through the walls prompting Kotone to hide her pokéball. "…on second thought. Run faster Hibiki!"

As they run deeper into the tunnel, the sounds of crashing stop. They slow down to catch their breath.

"Is it gone?"

"Hey look!" Hibiki points towards the exit. "We made it. That little stunt with the onix made our trek here faster though I still want to catch it."

"I'm just glad it's…"

The ground trembles and the onix emerges from a hole. A young boy hears the commotion outside.

"What's that sound?" He rushes into the cave.

Kotone's body begins to shake. Finding the courage to protect his friend, Hibiki gets his pokéball. She sees what Hibiki is trying to do. Kotone slowly reaches for her own pokémon. Togepi happily smiles at the giant rock snake. Suddenly, green flashes surround Onix. Each time the flash is seen, a slash mark appears. A trainer carrying a big net appears.

"Scyther, use Quick Attack!"

Scyther smashes through onix's tail. But it appears unharmed. Its giant tail glows and swings it towards its opponent. The bug pokémon is sent flying unto the rock walls. The trainer seems unfazed and gives another command. "Reversal!"

Scyther channels its energy to its scythes and jumps up. Onix grabs Scyther's legs and throws it to the ground. With incredible foot work, the scyther steps on the tip of the onix's tail and leaps unto its head releasing a powerful Reversal attack. Onix breaks down and crashes into a pile of boulders. Hibiki is ecstatic with the prowess the mantis pokémon showed. The trainer runs towards them.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yes. Thank you." Kotone said with a sincere tone.

"You were amazing!" Hibiki grabs his hand. "You were awesome! Scyther was awesome! Onix was scary but was still awesome! I thought that bugs had a disadvantage over rock-types but you totally conquered it! I've never seen a mismatch end like that! Can we battle? I want to battle. You seem so strong that I…"

"You're talking too much again."

"I'm sorry but he was just so cool."

"Pardon?"

"Nice to meet you Pardon. I'm Hibiki and this is... OUCH!" Kotone grabs his ears and starts pulling it.

"I'm so sorry about his behavior. He gets overexcited whenever he sees a battle. I'm Kotone."

"I'm Bugsy from Azalea Town. Mind if I ask why that onix was chasing you?"

"Not at all. You see my friend here was trying to look for an onix when that one attacked us." _"Hey! That was your fault. You sorta scared it." _With that, she stomps on his foot. "Thank you again for saving us."

"No problem. Uhmn… do you mind if I ask you another question?"

"Please… go right ahead" she insists.

"Why are you headed for Azalea Town?"

"We're actually trainers who've come to challenge the gym leader there."

"I see." The boy gives them a gentle smile. "I'll gladly show you to the gym."

"Are you sure? We don't want to disturb you" she continues. "It seems like you were in a hurry to go to an important place you rarely visit but was interrupted due to being bound to your duties."

Bull's-eye, everything she said was on the mark. Bugsy hides this and keeps on smiling. "No, it's nothing like that. Come on, the town is just near the tunnel."

Kotone and Hibiki follow Bugsy into Azalea Town. The town is isolated from the rest of Johto by the Ilex Forest to the west and the Union Cave to the east. Because of this, it is home to many exotic pokémon. The beauty and the old world feel of the town bring with it the feel of being one with nature. As they move along, they approach a large dome-shaped building. Its walls are made of translucent glass. Bugsy leads them inside.

"Wow. So this is the Azalea Town Gym. It looks like a giant greenhouse." Hibiki remarks. "Is it like… a grass-type gym?"

"No. It's actually a bug-type gym. Let's go inside, shall we?"

"Aren't we going to inform the gym leader first?" Kotone asks.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

As they enter the gym, they feel the temperature and the humidity change. They look around and see a lot of variety of bug pokémon. At the heart of the gym was a giant tree, below it is a battlefield. They ascend a small flight of stairs. Spectators begin to gather and the referee is called. Many of the observers are bug-catchers from around town.

"What is this? Was the gym leader expecting us?"

Bugsy remains quiet and goes to the other side of the field.

"Bugsy!"

"I'm sorry I lied but it was rather fun talking to you Kotone."

"Bugsy?"

"So, who's challenging the gym leader first?" Bugsy asks.

With his usual enthusiasm, Hibiki jumps up. "I'm first!"

"Very well. I, Bugsy the Gym Leader of Azalea Town, accept your challenge!"

Kotone is surprised with the revelation. Hibiki, who is clearly holding back his excitement, explodes.

"I knew something was up. Only an awesome trainer could be a gym leader. No wonder you were able to defeat that onix using a scyther."

"I'm flattered. So, I'm battling you first, Hibiki?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, referee, if you please?"

"This is an official gym battle, the challenger, Hibiki, against the gym leader, Bugsy. Each trainer will use three pokémon. The match will end when all of the opposing pokémon are unable to battle. Furthermore, only the challenger will be allowed to substitute."

"Are you ready Hibiki?"

"Yeah, I am!"

The referee raises his hand and yells **"Begin!"**

"Go! Kakuna!"

"Get 'em Sentret!"

With Togepi beside him cheering, Hibiki faces his second gym battle not knowing the trouble brewing outside.

* * *

Ninth chapter early release! Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Tenth Chapter -_ The Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia_

"Kakuna! Use Poison Sting!"

Poisoned needles fly out from a tiny hole in what seems to be its head. Sentret easily evades them. Kakuna continues its barrage of needles.

"Let's go Sentret! Fury Swipes!"

Sentret curls up its tail like a spring and uses it to propel himself towards Kakuna. It unleashes a powerful slash knocking down Kakuna to its side. He deals it a second consecutive slash pushing it further out. Kakuna is annihilated.

"Kakuna is knocked out of the battle!" the referee exclaims.

Bugsy recalls his first pokémon. "Kakuna was knocked out so easily. I guess that Sentret has an aggressive personality and a very powerful attack. Very good Hibiki. Are you ready for my next pokémon?"

"As always, brace yourself buddy" Sentret nods his head. Togepi cries out happily as she runs in circles around her trainer. "Yeah! Cheer 'em on Togepi."

He throws his pokéball and a beedrill flies out into the arena. Its long and slender body along with its wings gives it a huge advantage on mobility. Hibiki carefully observes beedrill's initial behavior but his hot-blooded sentret itches for a fight and slowly advances. Without warning, beedrill disappears and reappears behind sentret.

Before any damage can be done, Hibiki yells out a command. "Tail Whip!"

Sentret lashes his tail on beedrill preventing it to attack and lowering its defenses. It quickly follows up with a tackle and pushes beedrill into the dirt. Clearly the odds was against sentret but miraculously overturned by his agility, reflexes and sheer power.

"Good job Sentret! Now go for another tackle attack."

The scout pokémon rushes its opponent. He leaps and strikes. Dirt explodes out quickly spreading across the room. Two silhouettes stand in the middle of the arena. As the dust settles, Beedrill made a last stand extending its arm forward. Behind him is Sentret who remains standing. A few awkward moments between challenger and leader, they stare at their pokémon. Either of them seems to budge. After a couple of more seconds, beedrill falls. Sentret was victorious.

"Alright! Way to go!" Hibiki cheers. Togepi hops along with her master. Hibiki's ego swells as his sentret knocked two of the gym leader's pokémon. He turns to Bugsy hoping to taunt him. He sees something unexpected. Bugsy is smiling. His mind races for the reason.

"_Two of his pokémon are down. Sentret outdid himself in this match yet why? He shouldn't be smiling. He couldn't. Did I miss something? Why is he indifferent to the situation? Can it be that this was his plan all along? No. He's clearly losing. He only has one pokémon left. Yet he has the nerve to smile. Am I that inexperience to see what he sees? Someone tell me!"_

Hibiki looks around the field.

"_There must be something. Something that I missed…"_ He pauses.

His expression changes as he realizes what has happened. The referee has yet to make a decision. In only a few seconds the match turns for the worst. Sentret is poisoned and Bugsy's beedrill never took any major damage. And now the match begins again, with beedrill having complete advantage.

"Let's see how you do against this! Twineedle!"

Beedrill swiftly flies towards sentret and repeatedly jabs him with his large stingers. Sentret tries to avoid but the consistency of the attack manages to finally land multiple hits on the little critter. Sentret's reflexes are greatly reduced by his status. He doesn't yield to the challenge. He proceeds to taunt Beedrill to come at him one more time.

"Still not going to recall your sentret? It's only a matter of time before the inevitable, right?"

Hibiki has seen and heard enough and tries to recall Sentret. But he stubbornly avoids every recall. Frustrated, Hibiki shouts, "Sentret, come on. Cyndaquil can handle the others. You've done enough."

But Sentret cannot be swayed. He stares into his master's eyes. Hibiki feels the burning passion within his pokémon. His tenacity and arrogance won't let him back down. Hibiki closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Alright! If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right!" Sentret grins and nods to his master's wishes.

"Ah, it's that spirit that will lead to your defeat, Hibiki! Twineedle!"

Beedrill lunges a straight jab. Just as he makes a hit, Sentret slides down and curls up its tail.

"Tail Whip!" Hibiki cries.

With the command in hand, Sentret flaunts its tail reducing Beedrill's defense. He curls up his tail again and uses it as a spring to bounce forward to deliver a devastating tackle. He slams right into beedrill's slim physique and pushes him to the ground. Hibiki now has the advantage and calls out for a finishing move.

"Use your Reversal Sentret!"

Sentret's tail glows. He performs a somersault and strikes the grounded beedrill. The referee quickly runs over and makes a call.

"Beedrill is unable to battle."

"Yeah! You did it Sentret!"

Sentret faces Hibiki and gives him a big smile. He then collapses. He took too much damage from his last battle. The referee makes another call.

"Sentret is out. Please switch out your pokémon."

Hibiki recalls his sentret and gets another pokéball. Bugsy, surprised with the defeat of his beedrill, smiles.

"You believed in your pokémon till the end. I have to admit that I admire your spirit. But my research tells me that your streak is over. Let's go Scyther!"

He lobs his pokéball and Scyther makes an appearance. Hibiki brims with confidence. He still has two pokémon in his party albeit he won't be able to use Togepi since she has no battle experience. And the other being Cyndaquil who has a type advantage over any bug-type. He throws his pokéball and calls out his trusty cyndaquil. He lets out a loud cry and starts to scurry around the field.

"I see. You chose to have an advantage this time. It is a basic strategy. But we'll still win, right Scyther?" his scythe rubs his wings in excitement for the match.

"Then let me attack first! Cyndaquil use your Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil runs around to heat itself up eventually covering himself in flames. He pushes forward and leaps into his opponent. Scyther simply sidesteps the attack and knocks cyndaquil down. There seems to be a large gap in experience between the two pokémon. Bugsy knew this from the start as his scyther has been conquering his weaknesses from his constant training. Relying on advantage was just a ploy for the gym leader. Hibiki notices this and calls for a change of tactics.

"Cyndaquil! Keep your distance and attack with Ember instead."

He does as he is told and runs out of Scyther's range. But the bug pokémon is persistent and charges towards the fire mouse. The reckless move is quickly noticed and Hibiki calls out for a Flame Wheel. Cyndaquil's body suddenly turns ablaze as scyther burns. Scyther jumps backwards and creates a large distance between them. Hibiki takes advantage of the situation.

"Ember attack!"

Sparks fly from the flames. Cyndaquil moves closer and closer as he continues to spur out fire balls. Scyther tries to avoid but eventually succumbs as the tiny fire mouse moves in for his finishing move.

"Flame Wheel!"

Just as Cyndaquil surrounds himself with flames, scyther flings dirt into his eyes. Cyndaquil misses and scyther retaliates with Reversal! Using his remaining energy to accurately strike his opponent in a single spot, he plunges down his arm. With cyndaquil cornered, he receives the full damage of the attack. The referee goes and checks the condition of both pokémon. In a disheartening call, the referee decides that cyndaquil is unable to continue. Hibiki falters. He knows that he has no battle-ready pokémon at hand.

"_What am I gonna do? I have no other pokémon except for my togepi. But she's newly born. She can't possibly match up with that well-experienced and battle-hardened scyther. I know. Maybe I can borrow one of Kotone's pokémon. She won't mind."_

He looks around but there were only the gym trainers watching the bout. He realizes that he was so absorbed in the match that he failed to notice Kotone sneaking away.

"_Just when I needed her, no, I can't lose here."_ He whispers to himself.

"Are you giving up?" asks the impatient Bugsy. "Have you run out of pokémon? If you do, please approach the referee to forfeit and kindly direct yourself out. I still have a lot of research to do."

"No! This match is not over. I still have one pokémon" he turns to his togepi. "Are you ready for this buddy?" Togepi cheerfully smiles as she heads to the arena.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Togepi will wipe that smug smile of yours. Let's go Togepi."

"If you're that willing to humiliate yourself, that's fine with me. Scyther!"

As Scyther and Togepi face off, Hibiki scans his dex on Togepi's stats. He smiles and faces the battle head on with Togepi leading the attack.

"Scyther! Finish the little one with Reversal!"

Hibiki points at the charging mantis pokémon and yells out, "Metronome!"

Togepi's hands glow as she waves back and forth. She stops. She suddenly runs towards Scyther. The two pokémon are going for a head on clash. Togepi picks up speed as she approaches her opponent. Scyther raises his left arm and strikes but misses. Togepi disappears. Scyther, confused, looks around. Togepi reappears behind scyther. Rushing wind from the attack hurls her antagonist upward.

"What was that?" Bugsy exclaims.

Hibiki checks his pokédex. It was an Aerial Ace attack, one that missed its target. It seems that Togepi moves so fast that even if she missed the air pressure created from her displacement caused an irregular wind flow creating several gusts of air in the process.

"Alright! That's great! Finish him off with another Metronome!"

Togepi waves her hands once again until it emits a bright white light. A ball of light materializes. It spins around her until it blasts towards Scyther. Hibiki has never seen a move like it. Bugsy is so overwhelmed that he fails to give a command. Scyther receives the full blow of the attack as he falls to the ground. Hibiki looks up the move Togepi performed. It was Ancient Power! The referee inspects the field.

He raises his hand and shouts, "Bugsy's Scyther is defeated. The challenger, Hibiki, wins the gym battle."

Hibiki rejoices and runs to his togepi. He lifts her up and embraces her tightly. "You were awesome out there buddy."

Surprised at the odd development, Bugsy approaches the winner. But before he could present the badge, the gym doors open. A little girl runs to Bugsy. She stops and catches her breath.

"What's wrong Maisy?"

"It's terrible… gasp… all the slowpokes in town" she pauses. Hibiki listens to the conversation.

"What happened?"

"They're missing!"

**"What?"** Both trainers exclaim.

"Tell me more." Bugsy said.

"Granpa went to find the slowpoke. He said that he'll check out the well but he hasn't come back yet. I'm worried that he might be hurt."

"It's okay. We'll find your granpa." Hibiki smiles as he pats Maisy's head and goes off.

"Does he even know where the well is?" Bugsy grins. "Well, I'm sure he'll need my help." Bugsy follows Hibiki.

Meanwhile, down the Slowpoke Well, two unlikely allies are working together to rescue the slowpokes.

"Zubat! Finish them off with Brave Bird!"

"You too Zuu! Use Wing Attack!"

* * *

Tenth chapter released. Bugsy's mini-arc to be concluded at chapter 11. Thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is all fan made. Pokémon belongs to their rightful owners**

Eleventh Chapter -_ Living Happily With Pokémon 2_

Right before Hibiki and Bugsy's battle started, Kotone decides to wander around town to admire the structures and the sceneries around town. Azalea Town is famous for its various exotic hot spots. To the west, Ilex Forest, it has trees so close together that light does not shine through the sheer density of leaves leaving the place in a perpetual night. In the heart of the forest resides a shrine dedicated to the Forest Protector, Celebi. To the east just outside of town is Slowpoke Well, a man-made cave which houses the slowpokes. According to legend, a slowpoke's yawn ended a terrible drought in Azalea Town four hundred years prior. And Union Cave, which is located further east, is where exotic and foreign pokémon wash up due to an underwater cave connecting the cavern to the world. It is truly a magnificent place.

"Hang on, Slowpoke! Old Kurt is on his way!" An old man flailing his cane comes rushing through the road.

"What the –?" Kotone is stupefied. She stares at the running old coot until he disappears into the horizon.

"Wait!"

Kotone hears a familiar voice and looks back. She sees a red-haired boy gasping his breath. It was Kamon. He seems to be chasing the old man. He notices our heroine and passes her by without looking at her face. She taps his shoulder obviously mad for being ignored. He stops and stares at Kotone with his sharp eyes. The intensity of his eyes gets to her. Kotone's grip wanes. A few awkward seconds come by. She didn't know what to say. She opens her mouth but words fail her. She wants to know what's going on. Her demeanor changes and her confidence fade. Kamon has wasted enough time and shoves off her hand and continues to run after the old man. She starts to breath heavily. Sweat begins to course down her cheeks. She takes a deep breath and faces to where Kamon is headed. She decides to follow him. She was already saved twice. She wants to return the favor.

Kamon loses sight of the old man. He stops at a cliff. He looks down and sees the entrance to Slowpoke well. He notices some small rocks on the ground and picks them up. He puts some in his pockets. He jumps down from the cliff ready to investigate the well. Not far behind is Kotone. She jumps and slides down the cliff in pursuit of Kamon. Before climbing down, she sends out Zuu to guide her anticipating another dark cavern.

At the bottom of the well was a cave. As he descends further, he finds Kurt slump on the floor. He rushes to his aid.

"What are you doing here?"

"I want to ask you the same thing!" He shouts.

"I'm here to save those slowpokes. Those Team Rocket punks seem to think they can do whatever they like. Cutting off the poor pokémons' tails."

"Team Rocket?"

"They're a bunch of ragtag mischievous thieves. Though they say they were disbanded years ago…"

"Forget about them and come with me."

"What? Are you crazy? We have to save 'em slowpokes."

"I don't have time for this. I need you to make me some special pokéballs. But you ran off like an old fool just to save some useless pokémon."

"Old fool? Well this old fool is indebted to those pokémon. It may have been four hundred years ago but people never forget. These slowpokes saved our village from a terrible drought and made life peaceful for us. I'm not letting a youngster like you talk about the slowpokes like that."

Kamon knows better than to argue with an old man who has delusions of the capabilities of a slowpoke. He tries to look sympathetic and use a passive tone. "Then…" He tries to portrait himself as an emphatic trainer willing to help. "Then…" But that compassionate image was just out of his reach. He firmly believes himself as a callous trainer who cares nothing but getting stronger. He closes his eyes and sees the image of a girl. He starts hearing voices calling him.

"Kamon?"

He looks up and sees Kotone climbing down the ladder. Zuu flies ahead into the cave. Kamon takes the opportunity.

"What happened?"

"He was injured climbing down. The slowpokes are inside the cave captured by criminals known as Team Rocket. The old man wanted to stop them but he injured himself coming down here."

"Is that true?" she faces Kurt. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kurt sees that Kotone genuinely wants to help him though he sees that Kamon is using her to get to him by appearing to be more considerate. But he knows that he can't do it by himself, not while he's hurt.

"It can't be helped. What's your name there lass?"

"It's Kotone."

"And you lad?"

"I'm Kamon."

"Well then Kotone, Kamon, show them how gutsy you are in my place!"

With no choice at hand, Kotone halfhearted agrees. Kamon, on the other hand, has everything just as planned. Kurt was unwilling to make him pokéballs. But with this single act of heroism, he now has the opportunity to earn the favor from the reluctant Pokéball Artisan.

As they enter the cave, he asks Kotone to call out all her pokémon. He does the same and they slowly make their way into the cave finding cover behind the huge stalagmites. As they venture closer, they finally see who they're up against the mysterious criminal organization, Team Rocket.

Thought to have been disbanded three years ago, Team Rocket aimed to take over the entire Kanto region. They mercilessly harassed people with their pokémon. At the peak of their power, they utilized their pokémon for a hostile takeover. They used them to seize control of the largest tech company at the time, the Silph Corporation. It is the leading manufacturer of Pokémon technology like the pokéball and produces pokémon medicine and Technical Machines. Details are sketchy on what exactly happened the day of the takeover but the director of Silph Co. and various employees said that a young pokémon trainer defeated all of them. And thus, Team Rocket seized to exist. That is until now.

Kamon observes the two guards from a distance with Kotone just at his back.

"Now listen," he whispers. "These guys will kill us given the chance. I don't see their pokémon anywhere so it's safe to say that they don't expect any intruders. So we go in and attack them with our pokémon."

"But…"

"Don't hesitate. These guys are trash. They don't need your sympathy." Kotone nods. "Okay, let's go."

Kamon leads the charge along with Kotone. Their pokémon are caught off guard as they try to keep up with their trainers. The grunts quickly reach for their balls. Kamon flings the rocks he had earlier hitting the grunts' hands. They drop their pokéballs and just as they're about to run; Kotone's teddiursa knocks them out with Close Combat. Kamon ties them up as the little cub looks for more. Kotone apologizes to the unconscious grunts for the actions of her pokémon before leaving to go after her friend.

Near the end of the cave, only three more grunts are left to handle. They are unaware of what has befallen their comrades. Kamon waits for Kotone before charging once again. So far, the plan is to immobilize them without being a target for the enemy's pokémon. As Kotone catches up, he charges again into a room with the Rocket Grunts.

"Tenri, go help out!" she yells out. Tenri obliges and runs alongside Kamon. The grunts are taken by surprise and are knocked out by the two. Kamon ties them up as Tenri stands guard looking for more enemies. Kotone walks up to them.

"That was amazing. Where did you learn to do that?"

"I couldn't have stolen Totodile if I didn't."

"So, you really were the thief back then, but why?"

Kamon doesn't answer as he stares at the unconscious grunts. Just then, thick black smog rises from the floor. It was Poison Gas! He grabs Kotone and covers her mouth and nose leaving himself vulnerable to the effects of the deadly move. But Kotone has an ace up her sleeve and shoves Kamon aside.

"Zuu! Whirlwind!" she shouts.

Zuu creates a powerful burst of air by flying around the cavern lifting the noxious gas. Kamon recuperates and discovers the culprit hovering above. It was a Weezing! Within its shadow hides its master.

"What do we have here?"

"So, they do have someone capable in Team Rocket." Kamon remarks.

"Wit, huh? I like you. But I strongly urge you not to interfere with our business." He notices Kotone who is still catching her breath. "Very well. It seems I am outnumbered this time. We were only going to cut off these slowpokes' tails. Oh well. We have other ways to earn profit. Smokescreen!"

Weezing releases black smoke from its mouths as it hovers behind its master.

"Wait! Totodile! Aqua Jet!"

Totodile kicks off the ground and engulfs himself in water.

"Protect!"

A bright green barrier throws off Totodile and he crashes into the ground. Hiding in the darkness lurks Kamon's zubat. Upon the fall of his comrade, he viciously attacks the grunt with Leech Life.

"What?"

In an instant, Weezing takes the attack by knocking its master to the ground. Totodile joins the rumble and unleashes a flurry of strikes courtesy of Rage. The man gets up and finds his pokémon outmatched and outnumbered. Seeing no viable way to escape, he looks upon Kamon with hate and delight. An unspeakable evil has arisen from the grunt that now has a growing fascination with the trainer who dares defy him. They lock each other in a trance of bloodlust. The grunt smiles and starts to laugh maniacally.

"Boy, what is your name?"

"I don't answer to thugs like you." _"Thug? That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"_

"Oh really? Well then remember this; I am Proton of Team Rocket. The next time we'll meet," his smile widens. "Let's not hope there will be a next time."

Weezing explodes. Part of the cave collapses leaving the fate of Proton unknown. After the smoke clears, Totodile emits a bright light. Kamon is speechless. Totodile evolves into Croconaw. Its fierce eyes show the rage within his heart. Tenri glares at Croconaw. She wants to battle the newly evolved Big Jaw Pokémon. Kamon notices this and immediately calls back his croconaw. He looks into the troublesome teddiursa's eyes. It's as if she's asking for a battle.

"Kamon! Kamon!" Kotone sighs of relief when she finds that both Kamon and Tenri are safe. "Thank goodness." She curiously looks around. "Where is…?"

"I don't know. Doubt we'll see him again."

With the events that took place, Kotone does not force him to answer and just whispers, "I see…"

Kamon feels the awkward tension. He closes his eyes and grabs her hand.

"Let's go." He smiles.

This is the first time she has seen him smile. It was usually an arrogant smirk or grin. The innocence that he seems to portray does not match what she came to know. For some reason, her heart feels the same. She profusely flushes and looks at the ground.

"Okay."

_This guy, I can never figure him out. He seems nice enough to save people in trouble but too arrogant not to have any other intentions. It feels like I'm being tricked…_

… _but seeing him smile like that… It makes me wonder what his true expression is…_

_

* * *

_Seeing as how I can never have a strict schedule, please enjoy. GSC will be updated every four to five days from this point onwards. Read and Review Please.


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